Jodhpur, Nov 28 (PTI) The Rajasthan High Court on on Friday rejected the bail plea of two people accused in a cyber fraud case while taking note of the sharp rise in online financial frauds and “inadequacies” of the investigative agencies in dealing with such crimes.
The case is linked to an FIR registered at the Cyber Police Station in Jodhpur. The accused Adnan Haider and Rahul Jagdish Jadhav, residents of Gujarat are accused of defrauding an elderly couple from Jodhpur of Rs 2 crore.
In its detailed order, the single bench of justice Ravi Chirania stated that the regular police force is lagging behind in investigating cybercrimes due to a lack of technical expertise, unlike in traditional crimes.
The Jodhpur bench of the high court cited the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee and data from central agencies submitted before the court, according to which cyber-financial complaints have increased to a whopping 20,33,316 from 26,049 between 2019 and 2024, but the conversion of these complaints into FIRs and the percentage of freezing fraud money still remains very low.
As per the Report, the total fraud amount reported in year 2024 was Rs 21,181 crore however, the lien could be created only on Rs 2,530 crore.
Taking a note of this, the court directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to issue a notification for establishing the Rajasthan Cyber Crime Control Centre (R4C) on the lines of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). This center will function as the nodal agency for prevention, investigation, and coordination of cybercrimes in the state and will work in sync with the I4C.
The court also instructed the Home Department and the Personnel Department to jointly initiate the recruitment process for Special IT Inspectors under the DG Cyber. These officers will exclusively investigate cyber-related cases and will not be routinely transferred to other branches.
The court further stated that for account holders whose annual transactions are below Rs 50,000, who have low digital literacy, or whose activity appears suspicious, stricter controls may be imposed on their internet banking and UPI limits provided such actions are carried out in accordance with the law.
Directing to create a separate Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in digital arrest cases, to all banks, financial institutions, and fintech companies, said that in situations where elderly or vulnerable customers suddenly make large transactions from their accounts, a physical verification visit to their homes must be carried out within 48 hours.
The court has also directed the Home and Education Departments to frame an SOP regulating phone use, online games, and social media for students under 16, and to enforce the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
It also ordered monthly audits of government digital transactions and advised creating a Cyber Security Awareness Cell with expert-led outreach. PTI COR NB NB
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