Freezing of a bank account without a valid, lawful communication from a competent investigating agency or foundational evidence that funds are proceeds of crime is arbitrary, unreasonable, and violates Articles 19(1)(g) and 300A of the Constitution of India.

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

- 4 -

NC: 2026:KHC:17624 WP No. 19405 of 2025

HC-KAR

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

- 5 -

NC: 2026:KHC:17624 WP No. 19405 of 2025

HC-KAR

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 receipt of the application. In the IO report, the I.O. has clearly stated that the above mentioned account is not freezed by the East CEN police in this crime. He has further stated that the account was freezed in the NCRB portal, but the freezer is not related to this crime and not ordered by the East CEN police. It is further stated by the I.O. that there is no freezer details available even in NCRB portal pertaining to the account. Therefore, he has prayed to

reject the application.

- 6 -

NC: 2026:KHC:17624 WP No. 19405 of 2025

HC-KAR

3. Heard the arguments and perused the materials available on record.

4. It is a settled principle of law that in order to invoke the jurisdiction under Sec.451 & 457 of Cr.P.C, there shall be freezer of the account and that freezer should have been reported to the Magistrate. Without there being a freezer and reporting of the freezer to the Magistrate, the application seeking defreeze of the account is not maintainable. In the case on hand, the IO has stated that there is no freezer order of the above said account by the East CEN police in this crime. Hence, there is no question of defreeze of the said account by this court. Hence, the application filed