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The Supreme Court Division Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on January 23 issued notice to the Union Government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and seven private banks in a writ petition filed by an 82-year-old man who alleges he was defrauded of ₹22.92 crore in a “digital arrest” scam—among the largest individual digital frauds reported in the country.

According to the writ petition, the petitioner—a senior citizen who lives alone—was targeted by fraudsters impersonating law enforcement authorities. The petition alleges that the fraudsters shared forged orders purportedly issued by the Supreme Court through WhatsApp messages and video-conferencing calls.

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The petitioner claims he was kept under continuous threats of arrest and seizure of property, and that relying on the apparent authenticity of the forged judicial documents, he was coerced into transferring his entire life savings through multiple bank transactions to the fraudsters.

Senior advocate K. Parameshwar, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the incident occurred when the petitioner’s children were abroad. He contended that the case reflected ‘gross negligence’ by the banks involved, and said the petitioner was contemplating approaching the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission against them.

“There is some duty that these banks also owe, he comes on a wheelchair, he is almost 82 years old,” the senior counsel told the court, adding that banks should show greater alertness when such high-value transactions are detected.

Referring to prayer ‘F’ in the petition, he urged the court to issue directions to identify the mule accounts allegedly used by the fraudsters. Prayer F states: “Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to the Reserve Bank of India to direct the collecting banks to identify the account holders/operators of mule accounts used in conducting the fraudulent transactions and ensure refund of the amounts fraudulent transferred from the Applicants accounts;”

The Bench issued notice in the matter except for prayers B, C and D, for which the petitioner was permitted to approach the concerned consumer forum. Notably, the excluded prayers seek directions to the respondent banks to deposit the allegedly defrauded amount of ₹22.92 crore in an escrow account, to be released in favour of the petitioner. The petitioner has arrayed Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, City Union Bank and Yes Bank as respondents.

Apart from case-specific relief, the petitioner has sought a writ of mandamus directing the Union of India to frame and implement a uniform national policy to prevent and respond to digital-arrest scams, ensuring coordinated action among the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), RBI and cybercrime agencies.

In addition, the petition seeks the following reliefs and directions:

1. Uniform national policy for preventing and responding to digital-arrest scams, ensuring coordinated action between RBI, MHA and cybercrime agencies.

2. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to the Reserve Bank of India to ensure strict compliance by all banks with the Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management, KYC Directions, and Customer Protection Circular; to establish a real-time national system for fraud detection and inter-bank fund freezing; and to identify and block mule accounts used for digital-arrest scams.

3. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to the Reserve Bank of India to direct the collecting banks to identify the account holders/operators of mule accounts used in conducting the fraudulent transactions and ensure refund of the amounts fraudulent transferred from the Applicants accounts.

4. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to Ministry of Finance to oversee and enforce effective financial-regulatory safeguards across all banks and financial institutions; to ensure strict monitoring of high-risk transactions; to mandate immediate reporting and blocking of suspicious digital transfers; and to coordinate with RBI for a unified national mechanism to curb financial laundering through mule accounts.

5. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to ministry of telecommunication to implement compulsory telecom-based fraud warnings, regulate and identify scam-linked numbers, and establish a real-time communication-channel blocking mechanism for digital-arrest fraud operations.

6. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus to the Central Bureau of Investigation to takeover the investigation into FIR No. 85/2025 from the State of NCT of Delhi and direct the CBI to conduct a swift, effective, and time-bound investigation, ensure immediate freezing and recovery of diverted funds, trace the mule networks, and coordinate with central agencies for dismantling the fraud syndicate.

7. Issue writ / order / direction in the nature of mandamus exempting the Applicant from capital gains tax liability to the extent that the same would be in relation to the funds generated from sale of securities, which were further fraudulently transferred from his bank a/c on account of fraud.

Also Read: Supreme Court Takes Suo Motu Cognisance of ₹1.5 Crore Cyber Fraud Using Fake Apex Court Orders; Calls It a Direct Attack on the Authority of Law

Last year, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of repeated “digital arrest” scams and directed the CBI to probe such cases. A committee was also set up under the Union Government to look into preventive measures and victim compensation.

The plea has been filed with the assistance of advocate-on-record Abhinav Agrawal.

Case details: Naresh Malhotra v. Union of India & Ors.,

Case No: W.P.(Crl.) No. 15/2026.

Bench: Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi