Fortify Cyber Command Centre, give it teeth to it: Karnataka HC to government

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has directed the state government to further fortify the Cyber Command Centre (CCC), set up on September 2, 2025.

The CCC was established following the orders of the court in April 2025 in a petition filed by Newspace Research and Technologies Limited, Bengaluru, while appointing an SIT, headed by senior IPS officer Pranab Mohanty, to investigate alleged data theft and espionage.

The government order created the CCC and brought under it all CEN (Cyber, Economic and Narcotic) stations in the state, including 45 in rest of the state, one each at Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the police commissionerate in Bengaluru.

After perusing the order, the court observed that the CCC must be insulated from external intrusion and that it would remain stable and transparent when the officers serve with continuity and without disruptions of frequent transfers.

"This CCC should not be a mere edifice of bureaucracy, but a paradigm shift, a beacon heralding a new dawn in the fight against cyber crime. Giving it teeth in its true perspective would be making the CCC emerge as a new age antidote to meet new-age crimes. Therefore, it must be robustly fortified,” Justice M Nagaprasanna said.

The court said that 8,396 cases were registered under the Information Technology Act in 2021. The CEN crime police stations registered 31,791 cases between 2023 and 2025 while the regular police stations recorded 22,827 cases.

"The graph has climbed steeply, a chilling reminder of the exponential growth of cyber crime. Thus, the CCC is not an option, but an imperative born of necessity," the court noted.

The court has directed the Director General of Police, CCC, to submit a report showing progress in the investigation of cybercrimes or integration of all information and technology cases under the CCC. 

"It would be the duty of the CCC to ensure transparency in the functioning of the centre and take steps towards such transparency, including alleged corruption within the centre. It is also necessary for the helpline 1930 and the conversation therein to be recorded as a part of the police/information technology system and, if necessary, draw up a zero FIR against each of them. It is imperative that the 1930 helpline be integrated with the Police IT application that is subsisting, and all this to be a part of the CCC,” Justice Nagaprasanna said.

With regard to the case at hand, the court perused the status report and said the investigation report, once completed, should be placed before the court concerned. The court also directed the matter to be listed on September 24, 2025 for further consideration.