Lakshmi vs The State of Tamilnadu, Rep.

Court
Madras High Court

CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
RESERVED ON: 06.10.2026
DELIVERED ON: 16.10.2026
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE B.MURUGESAN
CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
CNR:{HCMD011002652025}
Lakshmi
..Petitioner
Vs
The State of Tamilnadu, Rep. By
The Inspector of Police,
Rajapalayam South Police Station,
Virudhunagar District.
(Crime No.83 of 2024)
..Respondent
PRAYER: Criminal Revision Petition filed under Section 438 r/w 442
to call for the records pertaining to order dated 04.07.2025 passed in
Cr.M.P.No.466 of 2025 on the file of Learned Judicial Magistrate,
Rajapalayam and set asidethe same by allowing the Revision Petition.
For Petitioner(s): Mr.A.Raja
For Respondent(s): Mr.D.Venkatesh,
Additional Public Prosecutor
ORDER
Heard and admitted.
02. With the consent of both parties, this criminal revision was
taken up for final hearing on 06.10.2026.
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
03. Challenging the order dated 04.07.2025 of the Judicial
Magistrate, Rajapalayam, hereinafter referred to as ‘the trial court’ for
the sake of brevity, passed in Crl MP No.466/2025 (in Cr No.83/2024
on the file of Rajapalayam South Police Station), declining to defreeze
her bank account (10056857182) maintained in Tamil Nadu Grama
Bank (TNGB), Cholapuram Branch, the revision
petitioner/petitioner/A8 has filed this Criminal Revision Petition under
S.438 BNSS.
04. For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred
hereunder according to their litigative status and ranking in this
criminal revision, 'the revision petitioner' and 'the revision respondent',
unless the context otherwise requires.
05. Prefatory facts are that for the offences under S.395, S.457,
S.458, S.414 and S.120 (B) IPC, a criminal case has been registered on
the file of Rajapalayam South Police Station in Cr No.83/2024 where
the revision petitioner is A8, that the revision petitioner has two bank
accounts, one (10056857182), maintained in Tamil Nadu Grama Bank
(TNGB), Cholapuram Branch, and the other (089100050306352),
maintained in Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank (TMB), Srivilliputhur
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
Branch, that the respondent police has frozen those two bank accounts
of the revision petitioner without any notice, that the revision petitioner
filed an application in Crl MP No.466/2025 on the file of the trial court
with a prayer to defreeze those frozen bank accounts and that the trial
court has passed an order in Crl MP No.466/2025 declining to defreeze
her bank account (10056857182) maintained in Tamil Nadu Grama
Bank (TNGB), Cholapuram Branch, and directing to defreeze her bank
account (089100050306352), maintained in Tamil Nadu Mercantile
Bank (TMB), Srivilliputhur Branch.

06. Challenging such order of the trial court declining to
defreeze her bank account (10056857182) maintained in Tamil Nadu
Grama Bank (TNGB), Cholapuram Branch, the revision petitioner has
filed this criminal revision.
07. Heard both sides, and perused all the materials available.
08. Learned counsel for the revision petitioner would submit that
when the bank accounts of the revision petitioner have been
seized/frozen by the respondent police without any notice to the
revision petitioner, and when such seizure of the bank accounts has not
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
been reported forthwith to the jurisdictional magistrate, the seizure of
such bank accounts is illegal, that therefore, the order of the trial court
declining to defreeze the bank account (10056857182) of the revision
petitioner maintained in Tamil Nadu Grama Bank (TNGB),
Cholapuram Branch, is not sustainable.

09. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the
revision respondent would fairly concede that the failure to report
forthwith the seizure of the bank accounts to the jurisdictional
magistrate is fatal to the case of the revision respondent.

10. Point for determination is whether the revision petitioner is
entitled to get an order allowing this criminal revision and reversing
the order of the trial court in Crl MP No.466/2025 declining to
defreeze the bank account (10056857182) of the revision petitioner
maintained in Tamil Nadu Grama Bank (TNGB), Cholapuram Branch?
11. At the very outset, this court would like to refer to S.106
BNSS/ S.102 CrPC which would read as under:
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
106. Power of police officer to seize certain property.
(1) Any police officer may seize any property which
may be alleged or suspected to have been stolen, or which
may be found under circumstances which create suspicion
of the commission of any offence.
(2) Such police officer, if subordinate to the officer in
charge of a police station, shall forthwith report the seizure
to that officer.
(3) Every police officer acting under sub-section (1)
shall forthwith report the seizure to the Magistrate having
jurisdiction and where the property seized is such that it
cannot be conveniently transported to the Court, or where
there is difficulty in securing proper accommodation for the
custody of such property, or where the continued retention of
the property in police custody may not be considered
necessary for the purpose of investigation, he may give
custody thereof to any person on his executing a bond
undertaking to produce the property before the Court as and
when required and to give effect to the further orders of the
Court as to the disposal of the same:
Provided that where the property seized under sub-
section (1) is subject to speedy and natural decay and if the
person entitled to the possession of such property is
unknown or absent and the value of such property is less
than five hundred rupees, it may forthwith be sold by auction
under the orders of the Superintendent of Police and the
provisions of sections 503 and 504 shall, as nearly as may be
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
practicable, apply to the net proceeds of such sale. (italics
supplied by this court)
It is therefore clear that the police officer shall forthwith report the
seizure of the property to the jurisdictional magistrate.
12. ‘any property’ contemplated in S.106(1) BNSS would mean
and include ‘any bank account creating suspicion of the commission of
any offence’ as held by Hon’ble Supreme Court in State of
Maharastra V Tapas D. Neogy (1999(7) SCC 685) and the relevant
portion thereof would read as under:
‘12…… We are, therefore, persuaded to take the view
that the bank account of the accused or any of his relation is
`property' within the meaning of Section 102 of the
Criminal Procedure Code and a police officer in course of
investigation can seize or prohibit the operation of the said
account if such assets have direct links with the commission
of the offence for which the police officer is investigating
into.’
13. In this case on hand, the bank accounts of the revision
petitioner have been seized/frozen by the respondent police but such
seizure has not at all been reported by the respondent police to the
jurisdictional magistrate, as observed and admitted by the trial court in
th
8 paragraph of the impugned order.
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
14. Now, the question, which emerges, is what is the legal
consequence if the seizure of the property/bank account is not reported
forthwith to the jurisdictional magistrate?
15. In Praveen Kumar V State by Inspector of Police, B1
North Beach Police Station, Chennai, and another (Crl OP
No.4645/2021/18.03.2021) , this court has answered as under:
‘ 5 . It is now a settled law that the police can freeze a bank
account in exercise of powers under Section 102 of CrPC, since
bank account also comes within the purview of a movable
property. However, in order to keep a check on the misuse of
this power, a mandate has been prescribed under Section 102 (3)
of CrPC, whereby the police will have to forthwith file a report
before the Magistrate having jurisdiction. The court has
repeatedly held that non compliance of this mandate will vitiate
the freezing of the bank account. Useful reference can be made
to the judgment of this Court in Padmini Vs. The Inspector of
Police, DCB, Tirunelveli reported in (2008) 3 CTC 675 and
Uma Maheswari and Others Vs. State and Others reported in
2014 (1) MLJ (Crl.) 262 .’
16. Therefore, having regard to the aforesaid decision, this court
holds that the failure on the part of the respondent police to report
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
forthwith the seizure of the bank accounts of the revision petitioner to
the jurisdictional magistrate would vitiate the seizure/freezing of the
bank accounts of the revision petitioner.
17. Resultantly, this court holds that the revision petitioner is
entitled to get an order allowing this criminal revision and reversing
the order of the trial court in Crl MP No.466/2025 declining to
defreeze the bank account (10056857182) of the revision petitioner
maintained in Tamil Nadu Grama Bank (TNGB), Cholapuram Branch,
and this point is answered accordingly.
18. In fine,
(a) that this criminal revision filed by the revision petitioner is
hereby allowed,
(b) that the order of the trial court in Crl MP No.466/2025
declining to defreeze the bank account (10056857182) of the revision
petitioner maintained in Tamil Nadu Grama Bank (TNGB),
Cholapuram Branch, is hereby reversed, and
(c) that the Crl MP No.466/2025 on the file of the trial court is
hereby allowed in toto .
16-10-2026
Index: Yes/No
Speaking/Non-speaking order
Neutral Citation: Yes/No
GNS
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
To
1.The Judicial Magistrate, Rajapalayam
2.The Inspector of Police,
Rajapalayam South Police Station,
Virudhunagar District.
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
B.MURUGESAN, J.
GNS
Pre-Delivery order made in
CRL RC(MD) No. 1110 of 2025
16-10-2026
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