The Supreme Court praised Tamil Nadu for invoking preventive detention laws against cyber fraudsters. Justice Mehta called it a “welcome approach” as regular laws fail to deter such crimes.
New Delhi: Today, on June 23, the Supreme Court of India on Monday appreciated the Tamil Nadu government for using preventive detention laws to control cybercrime, saying that regular criminal laws are not enough to deal with such offences.
The observation came during the hearing of a case related to the preventive detention of a man accused in a cyber fraud involving Rs 84.5 lakh.
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A bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a special leave petition filed by the father of the detenu, Abhijeet Singh.
The petition challenged the judgment of the Madras High Court, which had upheld the preventive detention order against Singh under the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum Grabbers Act, 1982.
While hearing the plea, Justice Sandeep Mehta remarked,
“This is a good trend coming from the state that preventive detention laws are being used against cyber law offenders. It’s a very welcome approach. Normal criminal laws are not proving successful against these offenders.”
The case dates back to July 25, 2024, when Abhijeet Singh, a resident of New Delhi and originally from Punjab, was arrested by the Cyber Crime Police Station in Theni District, Tamil Nadu.
The complaint had been filed by a woman named Bhanumathi, who alleged that she was cheated out of Rs 84.5 lakh.
According to police investigation, Rs 12.14 lakh from the defrauded amount had been transferred into an account run by Singh under the name ‘M/s Creative Craaft.’
The police probe further revealed that Singh had opened several companies in his and his family members’ names and created multiple bank accounts to transfer the cheated money.
Following this, a preventive detention order was issued by the District Collector on August 23, 2024. The Advisory Board reviewed and confirmed the detention order on September 25, 2024, and the State Government approved it for a full 12-month period on November 9, 2024.
Before the Supreme Court, the lawyer for Singh’s father argued that the detention order violated Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India, claiming procedural errors.
The counsel said the case was based on a single incident and did not impact public order, which is necessary for invoking preventive detention.
The lawyer also pointed out that Singh had no past criminal history. He further said that Singh was not given proper time to defend himself since the notice for the Advisory Board hearing on September 25 was given just two days earlier, on September 23, while Singh was in Madurai and the hearing was scheduled in Chennai.
Justice Mehta then asked if these concerns had been raised before the Advisory Board, to which the counsel replied that they had indeed been brought up.
The bench explained that it is up to the state to decide the duration of detention, and courts can only interfere if the detention has no legal backing.
Justice Mehta stated,
“If there is no basis for detention then the order itself has to go; the period cannot be curtailed based on that. You come on Wednesday, we will see.” The court then postponed the hearing to June 25, 2025.
Previously, the Madras High Court had rejected the habeas corpus petition filed by Singh’s family. The High Court ruled that the detention was valid and had no issues related to law or procedure.
It also noted that all documents were properly submitted before the Advisory Board and Singh’s side had been heard.
The Supreme Court will continue hearing the case on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
Case Title:
Abhijeet Singh v. State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.
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