Former Bombay High Court Chief Justice Loses ₹50k in Cyber Fraud, FIR Lodged
On December 18, the ex-Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, RD Dhanuka, reported a cyber fraud incident to the Cybercell of the Mumbai Police, resulting in the filing of a First Information Report (FIR). Having incurred a loss of approximately ₹50,000, Justice Dhanuka initiated the FIR under Sections 419, 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 66D (cheating by personation through computer source) of the Information Technology Act.
According to Justice Dhanuka’s statement in the complaint, he received a message on his mobile phone from an unknown number on November 27. The message, containing a link, warned that failure to update his PAN Card details with his nationalized bank would lead to account deactivation. Acting on this message, the judge clicked the link, input his PAN Card details on the specified website, and submitted the information.
Shortly after, he received a call from a representative of the bank, inquiring about a ₹49,998 transaction. Denying any such transaction, Justice Dhanuka was informed that the amount had been debited from his account, potentially due to cyber fraud. Following the bank representative’s suggestion, Justice Dhanuka filed a complaint with the Colaba police station on December 18, leading to the registration of the FIR by the police.
