Supreme Court of India Urges Govt to Compensate Victims of Cyber Fraud, Raise Awareness

The Supreme Court remarked that the government should provide compensation to vulnerable citizens who have lost their hard-earned money to cyber scams, in addition to spreading awareness among citizens to safeguard them from cyber crimes. This was stated in a judgment passed while granting bail to Paramjit Kharab by a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan.

Kharab is charged with opening false bank accounts and selling them to cyber criminals to retrieve extorted money from victims of online fraud. The court released Kharab on bail, who has been in custody since March 2024, on the grounds that other co-accused in the case have already been released on bail. The court directed Kharab to surrender his passport to the lower court and report to the police station on the first Monday of every month. The court clearly stipulated that he will not influence witnesses or tamper with evidence. Violation of these conditions could result in the cancellation of his bail.

Justice Nagarathna told the government that the police should take special steps to protect the elderly. He suggested broadcasting recordings on TV and radio that demonstrate how criminals commit fraud. He said that many people have lost crores of rupees, so it is important to make them aware of the criminals' methods.

Additional Solicitor General SD Sanjay stated that these criminals are very clever. Citing his own example, he said that he himself narrowly escaped being conned. He informed the court about the 'Sanchar Saathi' app. People can report cybercrime, mobile theft, or identity theft on this app. The government is continuously making efforts to educate the public.