Bank account can't be frozen in absence of FIR: Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has said that a bank account is the very essence of an individual's economic existence and it cannot be frozen in the absence of any accusation, FIR or judicial order against the account holder.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, while dealing with a petition by an individual whose account in a private bank was frozen pursuant to a complaint from the Gujarat Cyber Crime Police in November 2024, stated that freezing a bank account without any justification impedes right to life.

Directing the bank to "immediately defreeze" the account, the court said that in the absence of any material to connect the petitioner to any offence, the freezing of his account was wholly arbitrary and unsustainable in law.


It ruled that in the absence of there being any justification by the Gujarat Police, the continuing seizure of the petitioner's account was uncalled for.

"A bank account is not just a place to keep money but is the very essence of an individual's economic existence. Cicero, the Roman jurist and philosopher, once declared: 'So-and-so is innocent; but although he is free from guilt, he is not free from suspicion'. That is precisely the petitioner's situation.

"His account is frozen and his money is stuck, but there is no accusation, no FIR, and no judicial order against him. Freezing an account without any justification is bound to cause impediments to the right to life," the court said in the judgement passed on May 4.

The court nonetheless asked the petitioner to cooperate in case there is any investigation and inquiry by the concerned agency.