The court held that freezing a bank account without evidence of proceeds of crime is illegal, and a writ can be maintained to challenge unauthorized actions by authorities.

JUDGMENT :

BIBEK CHAUDHURI, J.

The petitioner has approached this Court invoking constitutional writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution for the following reliefs:-

“i. For the issuance of appropriate writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ(s) or order(s) or direction(s) commanding the Respondent authorities to immediately defreeze the Account of the Petitioner bearing Account No. 50100252268044 HDFC Bank at Patrakarnagar Branch, Kankarbagh (Patna) which has been frozen in Patrakarnagar P.S. Case No. 36/2021 (Special Case No. 380/2021) pending its adjudication before the Ld. Special Judge Excise- I, Patna and thereby allow the Petitioner to deposit and withdraw the money of the Petitioner available in his aforesaid bank account.

ii. For any other relief/reliefs as your Lordships may deem fit and proper.”

Facts of the Case

2. Patrakar Nagar P.S. Case No. 36 of 2021 (Special Case No. 380 of 2021) was registered against the petitioner on 14^th January 2021 for the offence punishable under Section 30(a)/41 of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018 on the basis of a suo moto complaint submitted by the SHO Patrakar Nagar, Police Station, alleging, inter alia, that on 13^th January 2021, while conducting a special raid along with a team of police personnel, he apprehended one motorcycle at about 10:00 pm in front of Bhola Community Hall, Chitragupta Nagar, on suspicion. Two persons, namely, Sanjeev Kumar and Indrajeet Kumar, were riding the said motorcycle. The two said persons were interrogated, and they revealed that they were carrying foreign liquor in their backpack. Police searched the backpack of Sanjeev Kumar and found 6.525 liters of foreign liquor and some cash money from the possession of the said Sanjeev Kumar. A sum of Rs. 36,400/- (thirty-six thousand and four hundred), a small Samsung phone, and a red colored Hero Honda motorcycle bearing registration no. BR-01-AJ-3816 were recovered from the possession of Indrajeet Kumar. On further interrogation, they allegedly revealed that they, along with the petitioner and one Vishal Kumar, took three rooms on rent at Mahatma Gandhi Nagar. In one room, they used to reside, and two other rooms are used to store a large consignment of liquor, which they supply to individual customers in a clandestine manner. The police party also conducted a raid in the tenanted house of the petitioner and the apprehended persons and recovered 529.2 ltrs. of foreign liquor from the residential room of the petitioner. Police also recovered a mobile number and diary from the possession of the petitioner. All the articles were seized by the police. The entries in the seized diary revealed huge transactions of money in connection with the supply of foreign liquor to different customers, in violation of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act. During the investigation of the case, the investigating officer visited HDFC Bank at Kankarbagh, Patrakar Nagar Branch for verification of the passbook of the petitioner having account number 50100252268044. It was learnt that a sum of Rs. 23,99,796.72/- was available in the said account. On reasonable suspicion that the petitioner deposited such a huge amount of money in his bank account beyond the known source of income. It was suspected by the police that the petitioner earned and accumulated ill