NEW DELHI: Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) R M Lodha was duped of Rs 1 Lakh by online fraudsters who allegedly hacked the email account of his friend and ex-colleague, police said on Sunday.
According to a complaint lodged at South Delhi's Malviya Nagar police station, Justice Lodha (Retd) said he received a mail from the mail ID of his ex-colleague Justice B P Singh on the night of May 19. Lodha said that he and Singh had communicated several times on the same mail ID.
In his FIR, Lodha stated, "I was requested for some urgent help and get back to him via email as he was unavailable over the phone. I saw the above email at around 3.30 am and responded via email. At 3.51 am, I received another email stating therein that his cousin was suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and they were short of funds. It was also stated in the said email that he needed help from me with the transfer via bank deposit or RTGS/NEFT in the Surgeon's bank account, a sum of Rs. 95,000/- or Rs. 1 Lakh."
Lodha deposited the amount of 1 lakh into said account by making two transactions of Rs 50,000 each.
On May 30, the retired Chief Justice said he received an email from Singh stating that the latter was unable to login into his account as it was hacked by some miscreant. When the former CJI read Singh's email, he came to know that he has been cheated.
After this, he approached Malviya Nagar Police station and filed a complaint. Acting on his complaint police registered a case under relevant sections. According to the police investigation is on and efforts are being made to trace the accused and IP address of the computer which was used to hack the said ID.
Justice Lodha had served as the 41st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India and retired in September 2014. Justice R.M. Lodha-led panel is widely known for its recommendation for structural reforms in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).