MP HC Unfreezes Vinod Rathour’s Account, Keeps Disputed Amounts in FDs; Allows Withdrawal If No Magistrate Order Within 3 Months

The petitioner sought relief under Article 226 of the Constitution, asking the Court to direct Bandhan Bank to remove the hold or freeze on his bank account.

His counsel submitted that the matter was covered by Malcolm Murayis & Ors. v. State Bank of India & Ors., W.P. No. 1100 of 2024, and referred to the subsequent decision in Archana v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors., which considered the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) dated 10 April 2026 for grievances concerning accounts put on hold through the NCRP-CFCFRMS.

The Court applied those decisions to the petitioner’s case; the judgment does not state the amount or circumstances of the disputed transactions.

Article 226 empowers the High Court to grant appropriate relief where a bank-account hold warrants judicial intervention.

In Malcolm Murayis, the Court directed that disputed amounts be kept in fixed deposits and made their liquidation subject to orders of the competent Judicial Magistrate within three months; absent such orders, the petitioners could withdraw the amounts under intimation to the cybercrime agencies.

In Archana, the Court considered the SOP dated 10 April 2026 and set out guidance requiring account freezes to be proportionate, with a lien or debit freeze limited, where practicable, to the suspected amount; it also prescribed a grievance-redressal process and time-bound consideration of grievances.

The present order directs the police agency to proceed under the relevant provisions of the BNSS or other applicable law.

The Court found that the principles in Malcolm Murayis and Archana applied mutatis mutandis to the petitioner’s case.

It balanced the need to preserve disputed funds with the petitioner’s ability to operate the account by directing that the disputed amounts be placed in fixed deposits while the account itself was unfrozen.

It further allowed the Bank to respond to any additional complaint concerning another entry in accordance with law and the SOP.

Those amounts may be liquidated only after orders are passed by the competent Judicial Magistrate within three months; if no such orders are passed, the petitioner may withdraw the amounts under intimation to the police agency.