The
modus operandi of cyber criminals is changing and the court cannot remain
immune to sufferings of people who are cheated by app developers who misuse
phone data and blackmail them, the Delhi High Court has said.
The high court said it is saddening to see
people are not aware that once they give access of their contacts and images to
an app they have downloaded on their mobilephones, the developer, in case of
being a criminal, misuses images, morphs them and sends them in inappropriate
form to their social contacts, and thereafter, blackmails users.
Its observations came while dismissing the bail plea
of a man accused of extorting lakhs of rupees from several people by morphing
pictures stored in their mobiles, and sending them to their relatives.
"The courts also have to remain conscious of the
social context in which the crime is committed and how it impacts the society.
The same needs to be kept in mind while granting bail to an accused. The
offences, as the present one, are impacting the society at large, especially
the poor and at times those who are not well-versed with the emerging cyber
crimes, which are changing and are rising in innovative form on a daily
basis," Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said.
In case such criminals are not dealt with a heavy hand
and are enlarged on bail while there is material on record to show transactions
have taken place from their mobile phones or computers and inappropriate
morphed images of people have been sent and they have been blackmailed, it may
send a wrong signal to society that such offences can be committed and one can
get away with these easily, the court said.
In the present case, a complaint was lodged by the
victim that he had received messages on his mobile for loan for the third
COVID-19 vaccine dose, and on clicking the given link, he was made to a
download app called 'Express Loan'.
When the complainant filled the details of his Aadhar
Card and PAN in the app, Rs 4,200 was instantly credited to his bank account.
However, after four days of availing the loan, he
started receiving threat calls from the developers of 'Express Loan' who had
got access to his phone contacts. The accused started sending morphed images to
his contacts.
The police said during inquiry, it was found out that
46 more complaints have been registered against the app, 'Express Loan' and a
total amount of transactions undertaken by several persons involved in the
conspiracy was Rs 140 crore.
The high court was informed that several
accused were arrested in the case and some of them have been granted bail.
Accused Vineet Jhavar, on whose bail plea the court
passed the order, said the charge sheet mentioned that Rs 2.1 lakh were
received by him and added that there was no alleged financial benefit or
withdrawal by him.
The court said prima facie the record revealed that
the modus operandi adopted by this accused was that once the app was downloaded
by people, they were baited with to a loan grant and once they accept the
conditions, they unknowingly gave access to all their contacts and images to
the app and its developers.
Thereafter, the victims were threatened by the accused
and their morphed images were shared with their contacts to extort money from
them, the court noted.
"In these circumstances, this court, without
going into much detail as to how these offences should be dealt with a stern
hand, finds it a case which is not fit for grant of bail," it said.
The court said that "being at the stage of
investigation itself and also keeping in mind the conduct of the present
applicant of taking premises on rent, having used that residential address for
obtaining SIM cards and opening bank accounts, misusing them for duping people
at large and then absconding for considerable period before being arrested by
the investigating agency, the bail application stands rejected".