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IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
TIRTHANKAR GHOSH
Md. Akbar Ali Khan – Appellant
Versus
State of West Bengal – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
Tirthankar Ghosh, J.
1.Petitioner has approached this Court being aggrieved that four different bank accounts of the petitioner has been frozen. Petitioner complains that petitioner is a businessman and the bank accounts were used for such business transaction only. However, petitioner is faced with inconveniences because of the huge amount of money which has been frozen and is unable to operate the accounts for business purposes.
2. State has submitted a report. Report reflects that the four accounts have been frozen and to that effect an enquiry was conducted through the government portal which reveal accounts of the following banks :-
(i) Account No. 6043026289114463 of Jana Finance Bank was frozen due to 21 complaints of “Online Fraud” registered at different police stations across various states of India (details enclosed).
(ii) Account No. 20100029600535 of Bandhan Bank was frozen due to 25 complaints of “Online Fraud” registered at different police stations across various states of India. (Details enclosed).
(iii) Account No. 3311110250053986 of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank was frozen due to 1 complaint of “Online Fraud” registered at a different police station Cyber Cri
Freezing an entire bank account without evidence linking the account holder to a crime violates the right to livelihood; only specific amounts should be frozen with proper justification.
The freezing of a business account requires identification of the tainted amount to ensure proportionality, and blanket freezes violate constitutional protections against arbitrary state action.
Un-freezing of account - Notice quashed - Unless and until there is a strong suspicion against the petitioners, police would not be justified in freezing account belonging to petitioners. For, such f....
The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement to follow the procedure laid down under Sec. 102 Cr.P.C and the need for sufficient evidence to support the freezing of a bank acco....
The freezing of a bank account must be justified by reasonable suspicion of crime, and the orders should be reasoned, particularly when impacting fundamental rights such as the right to livelihood.
The court established that freezing a bank account in a cyber crime investigation must specify the amount involved and comply with procedural requirements; otherwise, such an action is illegal.
Freezing bank accounts entirely without quantifying disputed amounts violates fundamental rights; only disputed amounts should remain on hold.
The Investigating Officer lacks authority under Section 91 of Cr.P.C. to freeze a bank account absent compliance with Section 102, violating procedural requirements and the petitioner's rights.
Seizure of assets under S.102 CrPC requires compliance with statutory provisions and cannot be based solely on suspicion.
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