MP HC Lets Man Use Account Frozen Over Four Disputed Cyber-Fraud Entries While ₹9,465 Stays In FD, Withdrawable If No Magistrate’s Order Within 3 Months

The petitioner sought a direction to place a lien on the disputed sum of ₹9,465, said to comprise four entries, and to unfreeze his Bank of India account so he could operate it

Relying on Malcolm Murayis & Ors. v. State Bank of India & Others and Archana v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Others , the petitioner submitted that the disputed amount could be secured without restricting access to the entire account

Under Article 226 of the Constitution, the High Court may grant relief concerning the freezing of a bank account.

The Court applied Malcolm Murayis , which directed that a disputed amount be kept in fixed deposit and permitted withdrawal if the competent Judicial Magistrate did not pass an order within three months

It also applied Archana , which considered the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Standard Operating Procedure dated 10 April 2026 and emphasized proportionate account restraints, preservation of the identified disputed amount where sufficient, and compliance with the applicable grievance and investigative procedures

The Court held that these decisions applied mutatis mutandis to the present case

The Court treated the disputed sum as identifiable and applied the approach in Malcolm Murayis and Archana : the suspected amount could be secured separately, without continuing to freeze the petitioner’s entire account.

It therefore directed that the ₹9,465 be held in a fixed deposit, while permitting the petitioner to operate the account. The police were expected to proceed in accordance with the applicable provisions of the BNSS or other relied-upon law and obtain an order from the competent Judicial Magistrate within three months; otherwise, the fixed-deposit amount could be withdrawn by the petitioner under intimation to the police

The Bank was directed to keep ₹9,465 in a fixed deposit and unfreeze the petitioner’s account, permitting him to operate it.

The fixed deposit may be liquidated only after an order of the competent Judicial Magistrate; if no such order is passed within three months, the petitioner may withdraw the amount under intimation to the police.

The Bank may take appropriate action in accordance with law if it receives a complaint concerning another entry