A frozen account must be defrozen while retaining the police-directed lien amount.

The petitioner sought a writ of mandamus directing Kotak Mahindra Bank to restore full operation of its current account.

At the hearing, the State informed the Court that Tiruppur Cyber Crime Police had instructed the bank to defreeze the account while retaining a lien of ₹1,57,278

The petitioner disputed any connection to the alleged cybercrime and contended that the police order under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) was made without application of mind

Whether the petitioner’s account should be defrozen while a lien of ₹1,57,278 is retained

Whether the challenge to the police order under Section 106 BNSS could be considered in this mandamus proceeding

The Court referred to Section 106 of the BNSS as the provision under which the police order had been passed, but did not examine its legality or set out a substantive interpretation of it.

The proceeding concerned the petitioner’s prayer for mandamus; the Court stated that any challenge to the Section 106 order should be brought in separate proceedings.

The police had already instructed the bank to defreeze the account subject to a lien for ₹1,57,278

Given the limited relief sought in the mandamus petition, the Court directed the bank to implement that arrangement. It did not decide the petitioner’s contention that the Section 106 BNSS order was without application of mind, leaving that challenge to separate proceedings

The writ petition was ordered with no costs