Deposit Rs 20L to use your bank a/c: HC to Padukones

The high court on Wednesday directed badminton legend Prakash Padukone, his wife Ujjala and younger daughter Anisha to keep a security deposit of Rs 20 lakh in the lower court to continue transactions in their IDBI Bank account.

Justice Raghvendra S Chauhan passed the order on a petition filed by the Padukones questioning the letter written by the Banashankari police to the IDBI Bank's Malleshwaram branch to freeze their joint account in connection with the investigation into a ponzi scam against Bengaluru-based wealth management firm Vikram Investments. The Padukones said the account was frozen illegally without a notice being issued to them.

The Padukones had invested in Vikram Investments and received a profit of Rs 20 lakh from the firm. They have Rs 87 lakh in their account. But after the account was frozen, they are finding it difficult to carry out transactions, their counsel told the court and urged it to order the defreezing of the account.

In his submission, Additional Advocate General A S Ponnanna said at least 2,400 people had invested in Vikram Investments which cheated its investors of crores of rupees. Over 250 police complaints have been filed over the scam. The accounts of all investors were frozen to facilitate the investigation. The lower court is hearing the matter, he added.