Digital Fraud Cases On The Rise, Technology Misused To Evade Law Enforcement: Delhi High Court

While denying pre-arrest bail to an accused in a cheating and fraud case, the Delhi High Court has observed that digital fraud cases are on the rise and technology is misused by individuals to evade the law enforcement. Observing that the case related to serious allegations of digital frauds where complex technological mechanisms were employed to defraud gullible victims, Justice Amit Mahajan said:“Such crimes are on the rise and the same tend to be significantly harder to crack due to the boon of technology that is effectively misused by crooks to wreak havoc and evade the law enforcement. The task of the Investigating Agency seems arduous and they need to be given a fair play in the joints to investigate the matter in the manner they deem appropriate.”The case was registered for the offences under Section 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 170, 120B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.The complainant alleged that various unknown persons impersonating as Police Officers extorted Rs. 1,75,00,000 from him on the strength of fake judicial orders.It was alleged that the complainant was made to believe that a sim card had been bought by using his Aadhar card and that the same was misused to send inappropriate messages. As per the FIR, the complainant was also threatened that he allegedly had links with the owner of Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal who is involved in money laundering.It was alleged that the accused claiming to be police officer claimed that Naresh Goyal regularly sent money to the complainant and also threatened to take strict action against him. As per the allegations, video call conversations were also made by the accused persons in police uniforms claiming that they belonged to Police Station Tilak Nagar and a set-up police station was also shown to the complainant. The complainant alleged that the accused persons sent documents to him claiming the same to have been issued by the Supreme Court of India as well as the CBI and that he was asked to share details of his identification, photograph, account details and was also asked to transfer all his money to their bank accounts.Rejecting the plea, the Court said that the investigation was at a nascent stage and that the considerations governing the grant of pre-arrest bail are materially different than those to be considered while adjudicating application for grant of regular bail. It added that the matter required thorough investigation which ought not to be curtailed by passing an order granting pre-arrest bail.“Considering the allegations against the applicant, it cannot be held at this stage that the investigation is being carried out with the intention to injure or humiliate the applicant. Prima facie, the facts do not indicate false implication of the applicant. The present application is accordingly dismissed,” the Court said.Title: MOHIT v. STATE OF NCT OF DELHICitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1258Click here to read order

Digital Fraud Cases On The Rise, Technology Misused To Evade Law Enforcement: Delhi High Court

Nupur Thapliyal

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