THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.V. SHRAVAN KUMAR W.P. No.26093 of 2025

ORDER

Heard the learned counsel for the parties and with their consent this writ petition is disposed of at the admission stage itself.

2. This writ petition is filed questioning the action of the 4th respondent in issuing notice dated 22.08.2025 demanding the petitioner company to furnish the details of the loans of respondent Nos.5 to 8 and directing the petitioner company not to release the pledged gold without having any authority and deliberately making personal visits and extending threats to the employees of the petitioner without any manner of right under the guise of investigation of alleged fraud without even sharing any of the information of such fraud and interference of 4th respondent with day to day business activities of the petitioner’s company without following due process of law as illegal, unwarranted, unsustainable, arbitrary, unconstitutional, against law as well as principles of natural justice and consequently, set aside the Notice dated 22.08.2025 of the 4^th respondent and direct the respondents not to interfere with the business activities of the petitioner.

3. The brief facts of the case are that the petitioner is represented by its Branch Manager is a company incorporated under the provisions of Companies Act and has license to deal with finance business including sanction of loans basically on pledging/mortgaging gold and having branches across the country. It is submitted that petitioner sanctioned gold loans to respondent Nos.5 to 8 from time to time against the pledge of gold ornaments as security, as per the RBI guidelines. The 4^th respondent served notice dated 22.08.2025 to the petitioner’s branch and requested to furnish the details of the borrowings of respondent Nos.5 to 8 without even mentioning details of the alleged crime or even the F.I.R details to the petitioner company and informing that they are investigating a fraud case alleged to have been committed at SBI Chennur Branch and in connection with Crime No.219 of 2025 before P.S. Chennur directing the petitioner company not to release the gold items to the customers without notice of Police and trying to seize the same for their investigation purpose which were deposited by respondent Nos.5 to 8 by availing loans by pledging gold. It is further submitted that the police have no right to seize the gold, and issued the impugned notice and high handedly trying to seize the gold even without payment of loan amounts and that petitioner has no connection or involvement with respect to the allegations that took place in S.B.I.Chennur Branch. Questioning the same, the present writ petition is filed.

4. The learned Government Pleader for Home has placed the instructions submitted by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Jaipur wherein it is submitted that in compliance with the notice dated 22.08.2025 issued by the Sub-Inspector of Police, CCS, Mancherial, the petitioner handed over the pledged gold ornaments weighing about 2610.8 grams pertaining to 21 Loan Accounts pledged by A- 1,4,5,6,7,8,10,12 and 34 under cover of seizure panchanama dated 01.09.2025 and the same was deposited before the Court of Hon’ble Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Chennur vide Form No.60, dated 08.09.2025. It is further submitted that since the petitioner has complied with the notice, no further cause survives in the writ petition.

5. In that view of the matter, since the petitioner has already complied to the notice dated 22.08.2025 and the case property has been seized under the cover of panchanama and deposited before the Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class at Chennur, this writ petition is disposed of with consent granting liberty to the petitioner to pursue his remedies as available under law. There shall be no order as to costs.

As a sequel, miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.

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JUSTICE N.V. SHRAVAN KUMAR Date:09.09.2025 VRKS