Disposed¶24

Prateek Kharbanda v. Union of India & Anr.

Delhi HC20 Mar 2026W.P.(C)/1989/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Defreeze of bank account; freezing on Cyberabad (Telangana) cyber crime communication dated 25.07.2024; no summons or charge-sheet; blanket/proportionate freezing arbitrary under Articles 19(1)(g) and 21; reliance on Malabar Gold and Diamond Ltd. v. Union of India, W.P.(C) 4198/2025; mandamus; CIBIL Score restoration sought but not separately directed; account No. 913020006071681; W.P.(C) 1989/2025; Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav J.; petition disposed 20.03.2026.

What did the court decide?

Direction to the respondent-Bank to immediately defreeze the petitioner's bank account, with liberty reserved to the investigating agency to proceed against the petitioner as per law; no separate direction issued on restoration of the CIBIL Score. ¶24

Prateek Kharbanda Vs Union of India & Anr. — Delhi HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

¶24

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner is entitled to a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to defreeze his bank account No. 913020006071681, frozen by the respondent-Bank on receipt of a police communication dated 25.07.2024. +1 more

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Court's answer

There cannot be freezing of a bank account till perpetuity without the underlying issue being taken to its logical conclusion within a reasonable period of time.

¶22

Ratio / Principle

Where an account was frozen only on a police communication of 25.07.2024 and no action followed, the respondent-Bank must immediately defreeze the petitioner's account; if the investigating agency has any material against the petitioner, it is at liberty to proceed as per law.

¶23

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Writ petition under Article 226 jurisdiction of the High Court of Delhi seeking defreezing of the petitioner's bank account No. 913020006071681 and restoration of his CIBIL Score. The respondent-Bank had frozen the account solely on receipt of a communication dated 25.07.2024 from the Inspector of Police, Cyber Crime, PS Cyberabad, Telangana; no summons was issued and no charge-sheet filed against the petitioner, and no action followed the communication. Relying on its earlier decision in Malabar Gold and Diamond Limited & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., W.P.(C) 4198/2025 (decided 16.01.2025) — wherein blanket freezing of accounts of persons who are neither accused nor suspect was held manifestly arbitrary under Articles 19(1)(g) and 21 — the Court held that a bank account cannot remain frozen till perpetuity without the matter being concluded within a reasonable time. The respondent-Bank was directed to immediately defreeze the account, with liberty to the investigating agency to proceed as per law if it has material against the petitioner. Petition disposed of (Kaurav J., 20.03.2026).

¶1

$~13

¶2

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

¶3

- W.P.(C) 1989/2025

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PRATEEK KHARBANDA .....Petitioner

¶5

Through: Mr. Ishan Srivastava, Advocate.

¶6

versus

¶7

UNION OF INDIA & ANR. .....Respondents

¶8

Through: Ms Arunima Dwivedi CGSC with Ms Himanshi Singh and Ms Monalisha Pradhan, Advocates.

¶9

CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV

¶10

O R D E R

¶11

% 20.03.2026

¶12

The petition is for the following reliefs:

¶13

“ a) Issue a writ of mandamus and/or any other order and/or direction directing the Respondents to defreeze the Bank Account bearing No. 913020006071681 of the Petitioner maintained by him with Respondent No.2;

¶14

b) Issue a writ of mandamus and/or any other order and/or direction directing the Respondent No.2 to take requisite steps to restore the CIBIL Score of the Petitioner ;”

¶15

The respondent-Bank seems to have freezed the petitioner’s bank account only on the ground of receipt of communication dated 25.07.2024 from the Inspector of Police, Cyber Crime, PS Cyberabad, Telangana.

¶16

The petitioner submits that till date he has not received any summons or no charge-sheet has been filed against him before any of the Courts. The

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This is a digitally signed order.

¶18

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/03/2026 at 13:31:34

¶19

petitioner submits that even he has not been implicated in any crime.

¶20

The Court in the case of Malabar Gold and Diamond Limited & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. in W.P.(C) 4198/2025 dated 16.01.2025 has held as under:

¶21

“19. In light of these provisions, it is also pertinent to note that any blanket or disproportionate freezing of bank accounts, particularly where the account holder is neither an accused nor even a suspect in the offence under investigation, is manifestly arbitrary, and in the teeth of the fundamental rights under Article 19(1)(g) and 21 and of the Constitution of India, which encompass the right to livelihood and freedom to carry on trade and business. Such indiscriminate debit freezing, without any finding of complicity, has the inevitable effect of paralysing the day-to-day business operations of an otherwise innocent entity, resulting in loss of commercial goodwill and financial consequences, thereby subjecting a non-complicit account holder to punitive consequences.”

¶22

There cannot be freezing of the bank account till perpetuity without taking issue to its logical conclusion within the reasonable period of time.

¶23

In the instant case, on 25.07.2024 the aforesaid communication was issued, however, no action thereto was taken by any of the authorities. Accordingly, the respondent-Bank is directed to immediately defreeze the petitioner’s account. If the investigating agency has any material against the petitioner, it shall be at liberty to proceed as per law.

¶24

With the aforesaid directions, the petition stands disposed of.

¶25

PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J

¶26

MARCH 20, 2026 aks

¶27

This is a digitally signed order.

¶28

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/03/2026 at 13:31:34

Prateek Kharbanda v. Union of India & Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Prateek Kharbanda v. Union of India & Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

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