Court order for returning funds from bank due to cyber crime

The bank is very well in right to raise this objection for this discrimination and can verify the genuineness of the court order through their panel advocate and proceed as per the opinion of the panel lawyer. 

Hello V Sriram,

After going through your query concerning the bank's refusal to release funds even after a court order. I would like to provide you with some advice that might help you.

Firstly, I would like to let you know that the police have the authority to seize and freeze fundsv that are linked to suspected crimes. However, this can be said that the release of funds is governed by judicial discretion, and a court order subsequently supersedes police directives.

As per the judgment in the case of the State of Maharashtra v. Tapas D. Neogy (1999), freezing of the accounts is permissible if it relates to an investigation related to a cognizable offense. But all this must be done by the banks in order to comply with the court orders unless a higher authority or court intervenes.

Article 144 of the Indian Constitution also states the fact that banks must be obliged to follow the court’s directives. As you have mentioned if a competitive court orders to release the funds, then the banks must comply with the order unless a stay order is issued by the concerned court.

I would like to suggest that, for the release of the funds, you can move to a competitive court stating Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, (CPC), and asking to address the pending freezing orders. The court, at its discretion, may summon all the investigating agencies that are involved to harmonize the conflicting claims.

In conclusion, it can be said that the bank’s refusal to release funds may be valid to avoid contravening multiple freezing orders. However, it is advisable to obtain a revised court order that subsequently overrides all the other freezing directives.

I hope I was able to help you with the answer to the query. If you need further clarification, then please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. (www.linkedin.com/in/pankhuri-rastogi-9221b2289)

Thank You.

The bank is well within its right and obliged (duty bound) to stop release of the amount lying there in the frozen account.

Dear sirs,

Useful information. Will take it forward keeping points mentioned above ..