Dharmasthala case: High Court directs State to submit its opinion on PIL filed by Kusumavati
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to submit its opinion on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Kusumavati, mother of Soujanya, seeking a direction to the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to register separate FIRs and investigate 74 alleged unnatural deaths reported in Dharmasthala.
The matter came up for hearing before a Bench headed by the Chief Justice. Senior advocate S. Balan appeared on behalf of the petitioner.
The PIL stated that 74 cases of unnatural deaths had been reported within the jurisdiction of a small outpost police station in Dharmasthala village. While the State government had constituted an SIT to investigate these cases, the SIT had registered only a single FIR and failed to register separate FIRs for the remaining cases involving alleged murders, disappearances and deaths.
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Arguing before the court, senior advocate S. Balan submitted that the occurrence of 74 unnatural deaths in a small village and conducting a criminal investigation through a single FIR was not a legally proper procedure.
Intervening on behalf of the State, the government counsel submitted that the government had not yet received the relevant records and, without them, it was not possible to place its opinion before the court.
Responding to this, the Chief Justice observed that the issue before the court was clear, that separate FIRs had not been registered in relation to the 74 unnatural deaths. The court directed the State government to obtain the available records from the court and submit its opinion accordingly.
The High Court adjourned the hearing to February 3, when the matter will be taken up for detailed consideration.
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Don't fall prey to 'digital arrest', understand it's a fraud: Fadnavis
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said 'digital arrest' is a fraud and not legally tenable, appealing to people to guard against cyber theft.
There is nothing like a 'digital arrest' in the law, he asserted while intervening in a Question Hour debate on the issue raised by SP's Abu Azmi in the state assembly.
The chief minister emphasised that if victims report the cyber frauds to helpline 1930 within the critical "golden hour" (critical for stopping fraudulent transactions), about 90 per cent of the money can be recovered.
"I want to tell citizens that there is nothing called digital arrest in law. If you get a phone call or video call telling you that you are under digital arrest...understand it's a fraud and report to 1930 (cybercrime helpline number)," Fadnavis said.
Explaining the modus operandi, the CM said in such frauds, a victim gets a video call and is told that the person on the other side is a CBI, police or customs officer.
"He tells you that a parcel in your name has come and drugs are found in it. You are under digital arrest and asked not to move away from the screen and online money transfer is done by the scared victims," he pointed out.
Fadnavis expressed concern that despite awareness and cyber protection systems in place, several people have fallen victim, including retired IAS and defence officers.
In such cases of fraud, the mastermind is based abroad, in countries with which India doesn't have any treaty. The online money transfers are sent to bank accounts in foreign countries, he noted.
"If the victims report to 1930 in the 'golden hour', at least 90 per cent of the money is recovered. We have the cyber safety system in place," the CM stressed.
