The Supreme Court on Friday (November 6, 2026) said cyber criminals do not deserve anything more than being locked up in jail.
The Court did not entertain his plea to surrender after Deepavali. “We are ruthless about cyber criminals. There is no sympathy coming from us. “You can release murderers. They can be rehabilitated. But not cyber criminals. It also directed law enforcement agencies to initiate criminal action through zero FIRs against cyber fraudsters.
The Court had referred to a status report by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which said that complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal against digital arrests had fallen from 1,23,672 in 2024 to 58,249 in 2025, and stood at 16,377 for the period ending June 30, 2026.
“They have no space in society,” Chief Justice Surya Kant, heading a three-judge Bench, said orally while rejecting a bail plea by an accused in a cyber fraud case. “You do not surrender, the police will take care of you,” Justice Joymalya Bagchi told the accused’s lawyer. Cyber criminals have no space in society, and jails are only meant for them,” the Chief Justice said. The Court said even murderers have a chance of being rehabilitated, but not cyber fraudsters. They should not be anywhere but in jail,” he said. Recently, the same Bench mandated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and mechanisms to curb cyber fraud, particularly “digital arrests”, and to facilitate time-bound refunds after hearing the grievances of victims.
