[Cites 2, Cited by 0]
Kerala High Court
Saithalavi P H vs Federal Bank on 27 March, 2026
WP(C) NO. 26613 OF 2025 1
2026:KER:27555
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M.A.ABDUL HAKHIM
FRIDAY, THE 27TH DAY OF MARCH 2026 / 6TH CHAITHRA, 1948
WP(C) NO. 26613 OF 2025
PETITIONER:
SAITHALAVI P.H.,
AGED 49 YEARS
S/O HYDROSE, PARAMBATH HOUSE, NATTUKKAL,
THACHANATTUKARA-I, PALAKKAD, KERALA,
PIN - 678583
BY ADVS.
SHRI.MUHAMMAD SABITH
SHRI.NAJAH EBRAHIM V.P.
RESPONDENTS:
1 FEDERAL BANK
KARUNAKURISSI TOWER, MAIN ROAD, OPPOSITE DREZZA,
MANNARKKAD, MANNARKAD-I, KERALA
REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGER, PIN - 678582
2 AGASOUD POLICE STATION
BINA, SAGAR DISTRICT, MADHYA PRADESH,
REPRESENTED BY STATION HOUSE OFFICER,
PIN - 470113
3 JAWAHAR NAGAR POLICE STATION
GH6C+RJJ, PANALLLA RD, AMBEDKAR NAGAR,
SECUNDERABAD, TELANGANA,
REPRESENTED BY STATION HOUSE OFFICER,
PIN - 500083
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4 HAZRAT NAGAR GARHI POLICE STATION
MDR 69W, HAZRATNAGAR GARHI, SAMBHAL,
SAMBHAL DISTRICT, UTTAR PRADESH,
REPRESENTED BY STATION HOUSE OFFICER,
PIN - 244301
5 MADANAYAKANAHALLI POLICE STATION
SIDEDAHALLI MAIN RD, MADANAYAKAHALLI, BENGALURU,
KARNATAKA, REPRESENTED BY STATION HOUSE OFFICER,
PIN - 562162
6 DOMBIVALI POLICE STATION
NEAR RAILWAY STATION, RAMNAGAR, DOMBIVLI EAST,
DOMBIVLI, MAHARASHTRA REPRESENTED BY STATION
HOUSE OFFICER, PIN - 421201
7 NARSINGI POLICE STATION
99M2+RVX, MANCHIREVULA, GANDIPET, NARSINGI,
TELANGANA REPRESENTED BY STATION HOUSE OFFICER,
PIN - 500075
ADDL R8 S.H.O TIRUPPUR POLICE STATION
14/51, KTC ROAD, ESWARAMOORTHY LAYOUT, KVR
NAGAR, KARUVAMPALAYAM, TIRUPPUR,
TAMIL NADU - 641 604
(ADDL R8 IMPLEADED AS PER ORDER DATED 07/08/25
IN IA 1/25 )
ADDL R9 THE STATION HOUSE OFFICER
NATTUKAL POLICE STATION, NH 213, NATTUKAL,
MANNARKAD, PALAKKAD DISTRICT, KERALA - 678583
(ADDL R9 IMPLAEDED AS PER ORDER DATED 03/03/26
IN IA 2/26 IN WP(C) 26613/25)
BY ADV
SRI. RIYAL DEVASSY, GOVERNMENT PLEADER
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR
ADMISSION ON 27.03.2026, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY
DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
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JUDGMENT
1. The Petitioner has filed this Writ Petition challenging
the debit freezing/lien of his Bank account with the
Respondent/Bank at the requisition of the Police
authorities. The case of the Petitioner is that the Petitioner
is not an accused in the Crime registered by the Police
authorities against some other persons, in which the
requisition was made; that the Petitioner is in no way
connected with the said Crime; and that the debit
freezing/lien of the account is in violation of Sections 106
& 107 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
(BNSS) and Article 300A of the Constitution of India.
2. In spite of service of notice to the Respondent No.4,
there is no appearance for the Respondent No.4. The
learned Counsel for the Respondent/Bank, after getting
instructions from the Bank, confirmed that the Bank has
received one Requisition from the Respondent No.4 for
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freezing/marking lien in the account of the Petitioner
mentioned in the Writ Petition without stating the disputed
amount and three other Requisitions from the Respondent
Nos.5, 7 and 8 for Rs.2,544/-, Rs.2,000/- and Rs.1,000/-
respectively, totalling Rs.5,544/-, for marking lien/freeze in
the account of the Petitioner mentioned in the Writ
Petition, and hence, the Bank has effected freezing of the
account of the Petitioner.
3. The issue is covered by the decisions of this Court in
Dr. Sajeer v. Reserve Bank of India [2024 (1) KLT
826], Nazeer K.T. v. Manager, Federal Bank,
Makkaraparamba Branch [2024 KHC 768] and
Abhiraj Rajan v. State of Kerala [2025 KHC 1676].
This Court has been consistently issuing the directions to
the effect that the Bank is to permit the account holder to
operate his account, limiting the lien to the amounts
shown in the Requisitions received by the Bank so long as
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the Bank does not have any suspicion that the account is
used for any financial cybercrime activities or money mule
activities, making the frozen/lien marked amount at the
disposal of the jurisdictional Magistrate's Court.
4. Recently, the Indian Cyber Crime Co-Ordination
Centre of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government
of India has formulated an SOP for NCRP - CFCFRMS,
Custody, Restoration of Money and Grievance
Redressal 2026 to establish a fair and transparent
system that prescribes a uniform process to be followed
by all the Participating Entities. The SOP includes
procedures to prevent misuse of the system of putting on
hold an amount, seizure of an account and any property to
help the victims of Cyber-Enabled Financial Crimes
(CEFC), and to give interim custody of the amount to the
victim and restoration of such property while ensuring
accountability of all the participants for their action and
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inaction and providing avenues for time-bound grievance
redressal for parties affected by actions taken based on
information provided by the system. It is intended that
States and UTs, working with other Participating Entities,
follow the SOP and are successful in preventing
defrauded money from leaving the financial system, giving
interim custody and restoration of the amount to the
victim, and, in the process, help create a cybercrime-
resilient financial ecosystem.
5. Clause 10 of the SOP provides for a time-bound
Grievance Redressal Mechanism for the Account Holders
in whose accounts the amounts are put on hold or whose
account operation is suspended. It is for the Petitioner to
work out his remedies in accordance with Clause 10 of the
SOP, with respect to the frozen/lien/hold amount.
6. Since the Requisition issued by the Respondent No.4
does not show the disputed amount, it will be an injustice
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if the Petitioner is totally prevented from operating the
Bank Account on the basis of such Requisition. The
Respondent No.4 is to be directed to inform the Bank of
the disputed amount within a time frame, failing which the
Petitioner shall be allowed to operate the Bank Account
without any restriction.
7. Accordingly, this Writ Petition is disposed of with the
following directions:
i) With respect to the Requisition for
Respondent No.4, the Respondent/Bank is
directed to seek from the Respondent No.4,
within a period of two weeks from the date of
receipt of a copy of this judgment, the details of
the disputed amount in the Requisition already
communicated to the Bank from the Respondent
No.4, sending a copy of this judgment, and the
Respondent No.4 shall communicate the details
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of the disputed amount in the Requisition
already communicated to the Bank within a
period of one month from the date of receipt of
communication from the Bank and in case of
default by the Respondent No.4, the Bank shall
lift the freeze/lien imposed on the Petitioner's
account on the basis of the Requisition from the
Respondent No.4. If the Respondent No.4
communicates the details of the disputed
amount within the said period to the Bank, the
Respondent/Bank shall confine the order of
freeze/lien against the account of the Petitioner
only to the extent of the disputed amount
communicated by the Respondent No.4.
ii) With respect to the Requisitions for
Respondent Nos.5, 7 and 8, the
Respondent/Bank is directed to permit the
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Petitioner to operate the account mentioned in
this Writ Petition maintained by the Petitioner
with it, limiting the lien to the aforesaid amount.
iii) The disposal of the frozen/lien/hold
amounts shall be in accordance with the above
SOP.
iv) Petitioner is free to redress his grievance
through the Grievance Redressal Mechanism
provided under Clause 10 of the above SOP with
respect to the frozen/lien/hold amount.
v) The Respondent/Bank is free to effect
further lien/hold/freeze in case of receipt of
future requisitions.
Sd/-
M.A.ABDUL HAKHIM
JUDGE
ays
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APPENDIX OF WP(C) NO. 26613 OF 2025
PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS:-
Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE COMPLAINT DETAILS
ISSUED BY THE BRANCH HEAD, FEDERAL BANK
ON 15/07/2025
