Shillong, Meghalaya — 25 November 2025:
A lawyer in Meghalaya recently lost Rs 90,000 after responding to an AI-generated voice call impersonating her senior, Justice Hamarsan Singh Thangkhiew, judge in-charge of the Meghalaya State Judicial Academy. The revelation was made during a training programme for judicial officers on ‘Cybercrime & the Court: Law, Evidence & Practice’, organised by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) at the High Court of Meghalaya.
Justice Thangkhiew explained that the fraudulent transaction was authorised via an OTP and traced across multiple numbers linked to Bihar and Haryana. This led to the arrest of a man whose SIM card had been misused. “He was merely a pawn and had no idea his number was being exploited,” the judge said, highlighting the complex nature of cybercrime investigations.
He noted that such cases often require coordination among multiple agencies, especially when bank accounts are frozen to prevent fund movement. “Innocent individuals sometimes face disruptions to their livelihoods when accounts are frozen mistakenly,” Justice Thangkhiew added.
The judge observed that modern crimes no longer require the physical presence of perpetrators and often span multiple jurisdictions, with little reliance on traditional evidence such as eyewitness accounts. “Conventional tools used by law enforcement and courts have become inadequate in addressing these evolving threats,” he said.
Justice Thangkhiew also discussed upcoming reforms to India’s criminal justice framework, including replacing the IPC, CrPC, and Evidence Act with three new laws designed to address jurisdictional challenges, strengthen provisions for electronic offences, and improve handling of digital evidence.
“Technology has transformed daily life, from online banking to remote work, but it has also opened new avenues for criminal activity,” he noted. The programme concluded with the judge expressing hope that it would equip judicial officers to understand emerging cybercrime trends, preserve electronic evidence, and handle digital-age cases effectively.
