The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused bail to a man accused of online fraud and made strong observations on the growing threat of cybercrime. The partial day bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, dismissed the petition and said cybercriminals are preying on unsuspecting victims across the country, causing huge financial losses.
While rejecting the bail plea, the CJI issued sharp observations against those involved in the online scams. “You guys are parasites who cheat investors of billions of rupees. For cyber criminals, we have to be very tough. Your victims are always Indians, you cheat someone in Tamil Nadu and then go to Jammu… the interest of society is only for you to be inside jail,” the CJI said, according to news agency ANI.
The court stressed that cyber fraudsters often operate across state borders, making it more difficult to detect and investigate their crimes, and noted the need for a strict approach to deter such crimes.
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This is the second time in the past month that CJI Surya Kant has used such strong language while making verbal remarks before passing the judgement.
In May, while he refused to grant the position of senior counsel to a lawyer, the International Commission of Justice spoke of individuals who, he said, attack institutions under the guise of activism and media work.
He pointed out, “There are already parasites in society attacking the regime, and you want to cooperate with them.”
The CJI also said: “There are young people, who are like cockroaches, who are not getting any job or having any place in the profession. Some of them become media persons, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists, and they start attacking everyone.”
These statements have drawn attention for their unusually harsh tone, which is very similar to the CJI’s recent remarks in the cyber fraud case, where he described cyber criminals as “parasites” while refusing to grant bail to the accused.
The CJI also said: “There are young people, who are like cockroaches, who are not getting any job or having any place in the profession. Some of them become media persons, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists, and they start attacking everyone.”
These statements have drawn attention for their unusually harsh tone, which is very similar to the CJI’s recent remarks in the cyber fraud case, where he described cyber criminals as “parasites” while refusing to grant bail to the accused.
The CJP, a day later, tried to clear the air around his “young people are like cockroaches” remark, saying his verbal remarks had been misrepresented, and that his criticism was specifically directed at those who entered professions such as the bar using fake or fictitious degrees.
He said, “It pains me to read how a section of the media misquoted my oral remarks made during the hearing in a frivolous case yesterday. What I specifically criticized were those who entered professions like law with the help of fake and forged degrees. Similar people have infiltrated the media, social media and other noble professions and are therefore like parasites. There is absolutely no basis in saying that I criticized the youth of our nation.”
