Karnataka HC disposes of PIL on freezing bank accounts in cybercrime cases

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday disposed of a PIL seeking directions to prevent authorities from freezing bank accounts without prior verification that the account holder is involved in a cybercrime.

A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha took note of the Union government's submission that a draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on cybercrime is already being circulated to stakeholders.

The PIL, filed by Bengaluru resident Pavan Vijay Sharma, also sought uniform guidelines for issuing freeze orders, debit restrictions, and lien markings in cybercrime cases across the state. The petitioner’s counsel argued that a show-cause notice should be mandatory before freezing an account.

The Chief Justice, however, observed that cybercrime recovery requires immediate action.

“The first hour is the golden hour. Authorities cannot be expected to issue show-cause notices. If a credit card is misused and money is transferred, you have to freeze the account. Look at the plight of people, especially senior citizens, who lose their life savings,” he said.

Deputy Solicitor General Shanthi Bhushan H, appearing for the union government, submitted a draft SOP for the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), outlining procedures for fraud reporting, fund custody, restoration, and grievance redressal.

He noted that issuing show-cause notices could delay and even jeopardise recovery of stolen funds.

Taking these submissions into account, the bench disposed of the petition, clarifying that the order would not prevent individuals whose accounts are frozen from seeking remedies available under law.