New Delhi, Oct 15: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to take the issue of circulation of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) on social media platforms seriously, while indicating that it would suggest measures to address the problem.

A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran made the observations while hearing a plea seeking criminal action against social media intermediaries for allegedly failing to report child sexual abuse material to the authorities, as required under the law.

The Justice Pardiwala-led Bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, whether the government had filed its response in the matter.

SG Mehta informed the top court that the Centre had filed its reply along with suggestions on tackling the problem. Counsel appearing for the petitioner also referred to concerns relating to the dark web, prompting the Solicitor General to assure the Supreme Court that the Centre was taking the matter seriously.

Stressing the gravity of the issue, the bench said it was a “very, very serious matter” and asked the Centre to deal with it seriously and study the top court’s forthcoming order.

As per the case status reflected on the official website of the apex court, the matter has been tentatively listed for further hearing on December 10.

The proceedings stem from an application filed by Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA) seeking effective implementation of the Supreme Court’s September 23, 2024, judgment in Just Rights for Children Alliance v. S. Harish, which dealt with the obligations of social media intermediaries to report suspected offences involving child sexual abuse material.

In its previous hearing on September 24, the Supreme Court had granted the Centre the “last opportunity” to file its counter-affidavit and an action-taken report detailing the steps taken to implement the directions issued in the 2024 judgment and curb the circulation of CSEAM on social media platforms.

It had also directed the Centre to explain the measures taken to implement its 2024 judgment and the safeguards proposed to prevent future lapses by social media intermediaries. It had further asked the Centre to serve a draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for dealing with CSEAM cases before the next hearing.

Under its 2024 judgment, the Supreme Court clarified that compliance with the Information Technology Act, 2000, would not absolve social media intermediaries of their statutory obligations under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. It held that intermediaries must report the commission or likely commission of offences under the POCSO Act not only to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), but also to the Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) or local police, in accordance with the applicable statutory provisions.

The matter has also drawn the attention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Earlier in the day, NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo flagged the continued delay in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions, saying that the 2024 judgment remained to be implemented. In a post on X, Kanoongo questioned why social media companies were allegedly resisting mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse to the police and raised concerns over the circulation and monetisation of such material on online platforms.

The NHRC has separately taken cognisance of media reports alleging that paid advertisements on Instagram promoted child sexual abuse material and directed users to Telegram channels where such content was allegedly being offered for sale.

Anand, Oct 15: Gujarat Police’s State Monitoring Cell (SMC) has seized fuel, chemicals and vehicles worth a combined Rs 1.72 crore in two separate raids in Anand district, arresting seven people in connection with the alleged theft of petroleum products and chemicals, officials said on Thursday.

In the first raid conducted at the premises of Rajpurohit Hotel on National Highway 48 along the Anand-Nadiad highway in Boriyavi, police seized 10,290 litres of diesel and petrol worth Rs 20.08 lakh, two vehicles valued at Rs 23 lakh, and four mobile phones worth Rs 15,500.

The total value of the seized property was Rs 43.25 lakh. A team led by State Monitoring Cell Police Inspector M.K. Malviya conducted the raid. Four people were arrested, and a case was registered at Anand Rural Police Station on October 14 under Sections 287, 316(4), 317(4), 61(2) and 112(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 3, 7 and 8 of the Essential Commodities Act, the statement said.

The arrested accused were identified as Narvarbhai alias Natubhai Lakum, a resident of Dholka in Ahmedabad district; Swaroop Singh Rajpurohit, a resident of Barmer district in Rajasthan; Dhan Singh Rajpurohit, also from Barmer district; and Laxmanbhai Bharwad, a resident of Boriyavi in Anand district.

In a separate operation, the State Monitoring Cell seized chemicals weighing 65,312 kg, valued at Rs 71.84 lakh, from a location in Danteli village along the Vasad-Tarapur highway in Petlad taluka.

The seizure also included six plastic barrels worth Rs 700, three vehicles valued at Rs 57 lakh, and four mobile phones worth Rs 20,000. The total value of the seized property was Rs 1.29 crore.

The raid was conducted by Police Inspector A.J. Chauhan. A case was registered at Petlad Rural Police Station on October 14 under Sections 303(2), 316(3), 317(1), 317(2), 61(2)(a) and 54 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Three people were arrested in the second case: Dharmendra Singh alias Munna Rajput and Rajan Singh Rajput, both residing in Kalali of Vadodara and originally from Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh; and Ramvikas Yadav, a resident of Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh.

A notice was issued to a 15-year-old boy, who is also from Uttar Pradesh and resides in Vadodara. Police identified two other accused, Vivek Vanvasi, from Pratapgarh district, and a person identified only as Vijay, as wanted.

Further investigation is ongoing in both cases.

New Delhi, Oct 15: The Special Staff of Shahdara district has arrested a man posing as a tantric and two of his associates for cheating a 79-year-old man on the pretext of extracting buried ancestral gold through occult rituals and stealing gold jewellery worth approximately Rs 15 lakh from his residence, Delhi Police said on Thursday.

The police recovered Rs 2.73 lakh in cash, a Mahindra Scorpio-N, clothes used during tantric rituals, fake identity documents, mobile phones, and other articles in connection with the case.

The case was registered at Seemapuri police station under FIR No. 622/2026 under Sections 318(4), 305, 123 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), following a complaint by Girijesh Singh, 79.

According to the complaint, the accused, identified as Shoaib Ali, Mahakader Khan, and a man posing as ‘Krishna Pandit’, gained the complainant’s confidence by showing him a genuine gold coin and promising to extract buried ancestral gold through tantric rituals. They induced him to pay approximately Rs 39.30 lakh through cash and UPI transactions.

During the intervening night of August 4, the accused staged a ritual at the complainant’s residence using steel pots containing soil and fake gold biscuits. The complainant alleged that he was administered a sedative and became unconscious. Upon regaining consciousness, he discovered that gold jewellery worth approximately Rs 15 lakh was missing from his cupboard.

Following verification, a case was registered, and the investigation was handed over to the Special Staff of Shahdara district.

A dedicated team was constituted under the leadership of Inspector Ashish Kumar, in-charge of Special Staff, under the supervision of ACP, Operations, Pavan Kumar and the overall supervision of DCP, Shahdara, R.P. Meena.

During the investigation, the main accused, who allegedly posed as Krishna Pandit, was traced to Amba Vihar in UP’s Muzaffarnagar. His identity was established as Tahsin, 48, and he was subsequently arrested.

Police said a black Mahindra Scorpio-N, Rs 2.73 lakh in cash, 11 rings, tantric clothes, two Aadhaar cards bearing the names of Tahsin and Krishna Sharma, a PAN card, an ATM card and two mobile phones were recovered at his instance.

The two alleged associates, Shoaib Ali, 40, a resident of Mayur Vihar in Dasna, Uttar Pradesh, and Mahakader Khan, 48, a resident of Dabagram Salboni in West Bengal, were also arrested. They introduced the complainant to the main accused and facilitated the subsequent transactions.

Police said further investigation is underway to establish the individual roles of the accused, trace the money transferred through various accounts and payment modes, identify the beneficiaries and determine whether other persons were involved in the alleged crime.