Allahabad High Court directs not to freeze bank accounts indefinitely after cyber crimes

The Allahabad High Court has expressed serious concern over the freezing of innocent citizens' bank accounts for an indefinite period due to the misuse of personal details by cyber criminals. According to a report by Business Standard, Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Subhash Vidhi of the Lucknow Bench have asked the Central Government to establish an effective mechanism to ensure that citizens who have fallen victim to crime are not put in such crises.

The case is linked to a petition filed by a builder whose bank accounts have been frozen for a long time. The petitioner informed the court that his son had unknowingly clicked on a link sent by a cyber criminal, resulting in the sharing of Aadhaar card details and other personal information. Subsequently, the criminals used these details to defraud other citizens through bank transactions. As a result, all of the petitioner's bank accounts were frozen, which severely impacted his business operations.

The petitioner had also registered an FIR regarding this matter in 2020. Previously, he had approached the High Court to unfreeze his savings account. At that time, the court permitted him to contact UIDAI to cancel the old Aadhaar card and obtain a new one. Subsequently, new biometrics were taken and the mobile number was also changed, but despite these steps, his bank accounts remained frozen.

Banks informed the court that they had contacted the cyber cell, but the process of unfreezing the accounts was stalled as no instructions were received from the cyber cell. In this regard, the bench has directed the concerned banks to contact cyber cell authorities to ascertain the status of pending criminal cases and take appropriate action as per the law. Additionally, they were told to make all efforts to resolve the matter.

The court has suggested that the Central Government find a solution for such cases where innocent citizens fall into the trap of cyber criminals and their details are used to commit crimes. The court has instructed Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey to obtain necessary instructions and submit an affidavit. The Ministry of Home Affairs has been made a party to this case, and the petitioner has been directed to also make the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Lucknow Police Commissioner, and the SHO of Vibhuti Khand Police Station parties to the case. The hearing on this matter will now take place after four weeks.