- The Supreme Court refused bail to a man accused of cyber fraud, calling cyber criminals parasites
- "You (cyber criminals) are parasites. You take money from investors and dupe them," Justice Kant said.
- The bench acted after an elderly couple reported losing savings to cyber fraud
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday, while refusing to grant bail to a man accused of cyber fraud, observed that cyber criminals are like "parasites" who swindle people out of large sums of money.
"You all are parasites. You take money from investors and dupe them. We have to be very harsh on cyber criminals. It is in society's interest that you are behind bars. Such crimes are always pan-India. Take money from someone in Gujarat, then Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and so on," the Chief Justice of India (CJI) said.
The bench had taken suo motu cognisance of rising cases of 'digital arrests' and cyber fraud after an elderly couple from Ambala wrote a letter to the CJI about a similar incident of cyber fraud that cost them their lifetime savings. The Supreme Court had earlier given a free hand to the CBI to deal with digital arrest cases across India while issuing several directions to the Centre and state governments on handling such cases.
Justice Kant had sparked a controversy last month after referring to lawyers with alleged fake degrees as "cockroaches" and "parasites" of society.
The remarks came during a hearing related to senior advocate designations in the Delhi High Court.
"There are already parasites of society who attack the system, and you want to join hands with them?" the CJI observed.
Referring to certain individuals active on social media, Justice Kant said, "There are youngsters like cockroaches who don't get any employment and don't have any place in the profession. Some of them become active on social media, some of them become RTI activists, some of them become other activists, and they start attacking everyone."
He later issued a clarification, noting his remarks were meant for individuals holding fake law degrees and not the youth of the country.
