Abhishek Banerjee's bank account reactivated following KYC update, Calcutta HC disposes of TMC MP's plea

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday disposed of a petition by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, noting that his bank account, debit and credit cards, which were frozen, were reactivated following submission of KYC documents by him to a private bank.

Banerjee's lawyer Ayan Bhattacharjee had claimed that the TMC MP's bank account had been frozen and his debit and credit cards blocked on August 10, when the Supreme Court permitted him to travel abroad for medical reasons.

He informed the court that the Diamond Harbour MP plans to go abroad this week.


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During the hearing of Banerjee's petition, Justice Krishna Rao verbally observed that a bank, in the case of any customer, should first give notice seeking the required information for KYC updation, but debit and credit cards of a customer should not be blocked at the outset.

Justice Rao disposed of Banerjee's petition challenging the private bank's freezing of his account and blocking of credit and debit cards, after Banerjee submitted all documents to a bank official at his residence.

The court noted the bank's submission that Banerjee's account, debit and credit cards have been reactivated following submission of KYC documents.

During the arguments, the court said that if the customer avoids providing the required information, the bank may state that it has no other option but to block the cards.

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The lawyer for the bank stated that such notices are given to customers seeking KYC documents.

She said that the central team blocked Banerjee's account based on third-party data, and an email was generated to the customer.

She stated that the account was automatically blocked due to a high-risk factor.

The bank's lawyer had, during a hearing on August 20, stated that Banerjee's name, PAN number and mobile numbers are linked with cases initiated by the Enforcement Directorate authorities.

Bhattacharjee stated on Monday that a bank, according to RBI guidelines, can impose partial freezing of an account in a phased manner only if the customer concerned does not give the required KYC information despite repeated reminders.

The bank's lawyer stated that it did not flout the guidelines of the RBI and that it did not intend to harass the customer in this case. She said the bank had only sought additional KYC from Banerjee.