IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 27^TH DAY OF MARCH, 2026 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM WRIT PETITION NO. 19405 OF 2025 (GM-RES)

BETWEEN:

1. MR. DEEPAK GUPTA S/O HANS RAJ GUPTA PROPRIETOR AGED ABOUT 60 YEARS.

REPRESENTING DEEPAK ELECTRICAL INDUSTRIES R/AT C-126, RAMESH NAGAR NEAR METRO STATION NEW DELHI-110015.

…PETITIONER (BY SRI. VIJIKUMAR .A, ADVOCATE)

Digitally si gned by CHAITHRA A Location: HIGH AND:

COURT OF KARNATAKA

1. NATIONAL CYBER CRIME REPORTING PORTAL REPRESENTED BY ITS NODAL OFFICER, NATIONAL HIGHWAY 8, MAHIPALPUR, NEW DELHI - 110037.

2. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA BY THE INSPECTOR OF THE POLICE EAST CEN CRIME POLICE STATION BANGALORE BROADWAY ROAD SHIVAJI NAGAR, BANGALORE - 560051 REPRESENTED HEREIN BY THE STATE.

PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

3. ICICI BANK REPRESENTED BY ITS BRANCH MANAGER ICICI BANK CHANDNI CHOWK

1486, CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI-110006.

…RESPONDENTS (BY SMT. NAVYA SHEKHAR, AGA FOR R1 AND R2;

SRI. B.S. JEEVAN KUMAR, ADVOCATE FOR R3)

THIS W.P. IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, PRAYING TO DIRECT R2, EAST CRIME POLICE, TO INSTRUCT R3, ICICI BANK, CHANDNI CHOWK BRANCH, DELHI, TO REMOVE THE LIEN ON THE PETITIONER'S ICICI BANK ACCOUNT BEARING NO.62905033443 AND ETC.

THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM

ORAL ORDER

The petitioner is aggrieved by the action of respondent No.3 in freezing the petitioner’s Bank Account bearing No.62905033443. Being dissatisfied with the said action, the present petition is filed seeking a direction to respondent No.2 to instruct respondent No.3–Bank to remove the lien/freezing imposed on the aforesaid bank account.

2. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, the learned Additional Government Advocate appearing for respondent No.2, and the learned standing counsel appearing for respondent No.3–Bank. Perused the material on record.

3. The petitioner is the sole proprietor of Deepak Electrical Industries, a business established in the year 1990, and is maintaining a bank account with respondent No.3–Bank. It is the case of the petitioner that the said bank account came to be frozen pursuant to two inward transactions received from the petitioner’s vendor, namely S.P. Chemicals, dated 19.11.2024, amounting to Rs.4,41,000/- and Rs.4,00,000/- respectively.

4. Aggrieved by the freezing of the account, the petitioner approached the jurisdictional Magistrate by filing an application under Sections 497 and 503 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, seeking defreezing of the bank account. The learned Magistrate, however, declined to exercise jurisdiction under Sections 451 and 457 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 on the ground that no FIR had been registered and that there was no formal communication placed on record regarding the freezing of the account. On these premises, the application came to be rejected.

5. Having heard the learned counsel appearing on both sides, this Court finds that certain observations made by the learned Magistrate while declining to entertain the application have a direct bearing on the legality of the action of respondent No.3–Bank in freezing the petitioner’s account based on the intimation received from the investigating agency. Therefore, this Court deems it appropriate to extract the order sheet dated 07.04.2025 passed by the learned Magistrate.

"The above named applicant has filed the present application under Sections 451 and 457 of Cr.P.C., to defreeze his bank account No.62905033443 held in ICICI Bank.

2. The petitioner has stated that his above said accounts have been freezed by the police, as such he is not in a position to operate the said account. He has stated that he is no way connected to this case. He has further stated that the freezer is not in accordance with law. Hence, he has prayed to defreeze the accounts. In this case, the I.O. report is called after receip