Kirti Deora Vs State of West Bengal & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The High Court held that police authorities cannot arbitrarily debit freeze a bank account without following the procedure prescribed under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. In the present case, the petitioner’s bank account was frozen based on a notice issued by the Officer-in-Charge of Itanagar Police Station directing the bank to impose a debit freeze. The petitioner challenged the action as illegal and beyond statutory powers. The Court first rejected the objection regarding territorial jurisdiction, holding that the cause of action arose within its jurisdiction because the bank account that was frozen was located within its territorial limits. On merits, the Court observed that Section 94 BNSS empowers authorities only to seek production of documents and does not authorize freezing of bank accounts. It further clarified that attachment of property requires an order from the jurisdictional Magistrate under Section 107 BNSS. Since no such judicial order existed, the debit freeze was held unlawful. The Court quashed the notice and directed the bank to restore operation of the account.
Facts:
Kirti Deora, Proprietor of M/s Tirupati Trading (“the Petitioner”) challenged the debit freezing of her bank account maintained with ICICI Bank, Kankurgachi Branch, which had been carried out pursuant to a notice dated January 6, 2025 issued by the Officer-in-Charge, Police Station, Arunachal Pradesh in connection with investigation relating to GST proceedings.
