The Delhi High Court has reportedly sent notices to 24 banks in response to concerns raised by the Delhi Police. The police have cited delays in the banks' responses to their communications regarding fraudulent websites as a significant obstacle in their investigation.

Justice Prathiba M Singh emphasized the need for establishing a system that ensures prompt and efficient responses to the Delhi Police's queries. This is particularly important because the case involves innocent customers who have been deceived into losing significant amounts of money.

The police also informed the Court that bank accounts are being opened by officials without conducting proper address verifications of the account holders.

The Court was addressing a case concerning the registration of domain names by unidentified third parties, which infringed upon the trademark rights of different brand owners and violated court orders. In the past, the Court had issued orders for blocking these infringing domain names.

The Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police also informed the Court about the difficulties they encountered while investigating fraudulent websites. They mentioned that Domain Name Registrars and intermediaries hosting these websites were not furnishing accurate details of the individuals or entities who registered them.

The police also reported that the Ministry of External Affairs had received a complaint regarding the use of fake websites to deceive the public. These websites were illicitly accepting passport applications from Indian citizens and deceiving them by imposing substantial processing fees.

Upon conducting their investigation, the Police discovered that payments had been made to Google Ads in order to have these websites listed at the top of search engine results.

Taking into account the information provided, the Court issued a directive to Google, instructing the company to appoint an official who will liaise with the Cyber Cell. This designated official is expected to supply the necessary information regarding the fraudulent websites and offer any other assistance required to facilitate the investigation of these cases.

The Court has scheduled the next hearing for this matter on November 24th.