Inter-departmental panel formed to combat ‘digital arrests’ on real-time basis, met with online intermediaries: Government to Supreme Court

The Union government has taken action by constituting an inter-ministerial committee (IDC) under the chairmanship of Special Secretary (Internal Security) to combat digital seizures that have deprived mostly elderly and vulnerable citizens of thousands of crores of hard-earned money. This committee has held multiple meetings before, and the latest one was attended by representatives of online platforms Google, WhatsApp, Telegram and Microsoft.

Editorial | Compound effect: About digital arrest scams

The government informed the Supreme Court, which is hearing the case, on January 13, through a status report, that inputs have been received from the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to combat digital detention scams.

The high-level interdepartmental committee (IDC) was established on December 26, 2025, and has officials from multiple agencies to “comprehensively examine the issue of digital detention in all its aspects.”

The IDC, headed by the Special Secretary (Homeland Security), has representation at and above the level of officers of the Joint Secretary from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), DoT, Ministry of External Affairs, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Consumer Affairs, RBI, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, Delhi Police and Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination Center (I4C), with the Chief Executive acting as member-secretary.

Attorney General R. Venkataramani would regularly attend the meetings of the IDC.

The IDC was formed after a panel headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant led inter-ministerial consultations under the guidance of the Attorney General to pave the way for ending the disaster affecting a large population.

A striking case before the court was that of a seventy-year-old female Supreme Court lawyer represented by advocate Vipin Nair; This lawyer’s life savings were wiped out by fraudsters posing as police officers, revealing that the scam was so convincing that even lawyers fell into the trap.

The center said the IDC’s enforcement agencies will examine “real-time issues” and provide guidance; identifies gaps in relevant legislation, rules, circulars and practices, recommends corrective measures and provides input for further instructions that the Supreme Court may require.

The IDC, which has met three times in December 2025 and January 2026, said it would meet at regular intervals to “ensure timely and coordinated compliance.” The last meeting with social media intermediaries, calling and messaging platforms was held on January 6.

The government has sought at least a month’s time to seek views from the remaining members of the IDC, conduct further negotiations and obtain a “consolidated and considered outcome” before the top court.

On December 1, the court tasked the CBI with cracking down on ‘digital arrest’ scammers and their associates, giving the agency “free hand” to launch an anti-corruption probe against bankers involved in opening mule accounts linked to cybercrimes.

He said he was shocked at the “staggering amounts” digital detention scammers were able to get from India. Digital arrests have been widely reported in India since 2022 through 2024, where scammers impersonate police officers and even judges, threatening innocent people with “online arrest” and defrauding money from them.

A memorandum filed by the Union government in the Supreme Court showed that ₹ 3000 crore has already been defrauded from victims by fraudsters, based solely on statistics collected from complaints lodged regarding digital arrests.

The Chief Justice said bankers’ failure to allow such a large-scale fraud to take place or even grow could amount to a ‘deficiency of service’. The court said there should be a system to warn customers of such scams.