# Two high courts lay down rules to curb cybercrime and account freezes 2026-08-21T11:19:55+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the Directors General of Police in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh to step up action against cybercrime, which Justice Sanjay Vashisth described as having reached 'epidemic proportions'. The court said the legal framework is insufficient to tackle the scale of online fraud. The order came during a bail hearing in a case involving alleged cyber fraud of Rs 73 lakh. The court also warned that if the accused commits a similar offence, the bail will be cancelled. medianama.com reports that loan agents are allegedly being used to channel fraud proceeds through innocent account holders' bank accounts. Separately, the Rajasthan High Court has laid down a detailed framework to prevent banks and investigating agencies from freezing entire bank accounts indiscriminately during cybercrime investigations. Justice Anand Sharma directed that where the disputed amount is identifiable, only that amount should be placed on hold, allowing the account holder to operate the rest of the balance. Barandbench.com reports that the court said investigative powers must be subject to constitutional standards of legality and proportionality, and that indefinite blanket freezes based on vague communications are not allowed. The guidelines also require periodic review of freezes and immediate lifting of restraints when no longer needed. Both rulings reflect growing judicial concern over the handling of cybercrime cases. The Punjab and Haryana High Court cited data showing a sharp rise in cybercrime cases referred for trial, from 13,941 in 2017 to 66,765 in 2022. The Rajasthan High Court framework includes 13 specific guidelines covering everything from the need to record a prima facie connection to the offence to following grievance mechanisms under a January 2026 Standard Operating Procedure. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both medianama.com and barandbench.com report the court orders in a neutral, wire-service style, with no discernible slant toward the government or any political ideology. medianama.com focuses on the procedural details and the alleged role of loan agents in fraud networks, while barandbench.com provides a comprehensive list of the Rajasthan High Court's 13 guidelines. The coverage is uniform straight reporting. The middle-ground takeaway is that Indian courts are actively tightening both enforcement and due-process safeguards in cybercrime cases. The key number to watch is the 66,765 cases referred for trial in 2022, which underscores the scale of the problem. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - medianama.com (neutral report) Straight news report of court order with procedural details and quotes - barandbench.com (neutral report) Straight news report of court guidelines with full list of directives This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-22T15:26:44+00:00. Tags: Chandigarh police, cybercrime, Haryana Police, Punjab and Haryana High Court, Punjab Police, Sanjay Vashisth Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/punjab-haryana-high-court-orders-crackdown-on-cybercrime/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/punjab-haryana-high-court-orders-crackdown-on-cybercrime/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/