The Karnataka High Court has directed the Cyber Command police to frame detailed guidelines for investigating illegal SIM card activation and sales after expressing serious concern over networks allegedly using Aadhaar numbers and customer documents without authorisation in Bengaluru.
A single-judge bench headed by Justice Suraj Govindaraj dismissed a criminal petition filed by Mallikarjun, son of Parvatha Reddy, of Abbareddy Layout, who had sought the quashing of a criminal case against him. The petitioner is an employee of Jio and faces allegations of illegally possessing 56 activated Jio SIM cards and 20 Vodafone SIM cards.
The court instructed the Director General of Police of Cyber Command to coordinate with the relevant police authorities and take action in accordance with the law to prevent the misuse of SIM cards registered in the names of innocent people. It also directed the Cyber Command to intensify investigative methods to identify the networks behind unauthorised activation and sale of SIM cards and to prevent similar offences in future.
The directions extend to telecom operators, including Jio and Vodafone. The companies have been asked to review the procedures they follow for distributing and activating SIM cards. This review is also expected to cover the storage, transportation and handling of inactive SIM cards, as well as records identifying the people authorised to manage them.
The court further directed that telecom companies maintain proper accounts of SIM cards supplied to intermediaries and returned by them. The systems should allow companies to verify customer details and identify deviations from approved procedures. Operators have also been told to reconcile the number of SIM cards supplied to promoters and distributors with those sold, returned, cancelled or disposed of in other ways.
The directions place particular emphasis on preventing the activation of SIM cards using identity documents without customers’ knowledge or consent. The court said customers should have an easily accessible mechanism to report SIM cards activated in their names without authorisation. Telecom companies have also been instructed to closely monitor promoters and distributors, including the stock and inventory of SIM cards supplied to them, and to ensure that customer documents are properly verified before activation.
The order also contains a privacy safeguard. The court said the investigative rules must remain within the legal framework and should not result in unnecessary surveillance of the public or violations of personal data privacy. The directions therefore combine stronger checks on telecom distribution chains with limits on how customer information may be monitored and used. The Cyber Command and mobile service providers are now required to examine these processes and implement the relevant measures under the court’s directions.
