Mahalakshmi vs The State of Tamilnadu Rep.by

Court
Madras High Court

CRL RC(MD) No. 1111 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. 1111 of 2025
CNR:{HCMD011002702025}
Mahalakshmi
..Petitioner(s)
Vs
The State of Tamilnadu Rep.by
The Inspector of Police, Rajapalayam South Police
Station, Virudhunagar District
..Respondent(s)
PRAYER: C-45R. To call for the records pertaining to order dated
04.07.2025 passed in Cr.MP.No.467 of 2025 on the file of Learned
Judicial Magistrate, Rajapalayam and set aside the same by allowing the
Revision Petition and pass such further or other orders.
For Petitioner(s): M/s 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. 1111 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.467/2025 (in Cr No.83/2024
on the file of Rajapalayam South Police Station), declining to defreeze
her bank account (10056876024) maintained in Pandiyan Grama Bank,
Cholapuram Branch, the revision petitioner/petitioner/A12 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 A12, that the revision petitioner has a bank
account (10056876024), maintained in Pandiyan Grama Bank,
Cholapuram Branch, that the respondent police has frozen such bank
account of the revision petitioner without any notice, that the revision
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1111 of 2025
petitioner filed an application in Crl.MP No.467/2025 on the file of the
trial court with a prayer to defreeze such frozen bank account and that
the trial court has passed an order in Crl MP No.467/2025 declining to
defreeze her bank account (10056876024) maintained in Pandiyan
Grama Bank, Cholapuram Branch.
06. Challenging such order of the trial court declining to
defreeze her bank account (10056876024) maintained in Pandiyan
Grama Bank, 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
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 (10056876024) of the revision
petitioner maintained in Pandiyan Grama Bank, Cholapuram Branch, is
not sustainable.
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1111 of 2025
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 (10056876024) of the revision petitioner
maintained in Pandiyan Grama Bank, 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:
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.
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1111 of 2025
(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 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
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1111 of 2025
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.
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:
q‘ 5 . It is now a settled law that the police can freeze a bank
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1111 of 2025
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
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.467/2025 declining to
defreeze the bank account (10056876024) of the revision petitioner
maintained in Pandiyan Grama Bank, Cholapuram Branch, and this
point is answered accordingly.
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1111 of 2025
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.467/2025
declining to defreeze the bank account (10056876024) of the revision
petitioner maintained in Pandiyan Grama Bank, Cholapuram Branch, is
hereby reversed, and
(c) that the Crl MP No.467/2025 on the file of the trial court is
hereby allowed.
16-10-2026
Index: Yes/No
Speaking/Non-speaking order
Neutral Citation: Yes/No
GNS
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CRL RC(MD) No. 1111 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. 1111 of 2025
B.MURUGESAN, J.
GNS
Pre-Delivery order made in
CRL RC(MD) No.1111 of 2025
16-10-2026
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