Ajay Kaushik v. Union of India & Ors.

Delhi HC19 Mar 2026W.P.(C)/3523/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

writ petition mandamus de-freeze restore bank account; Punjab National Bank pension account No. 0128000100659974; blanket freeze without show cause notice or hearing; disputed amount Rs. 2910/-; lien Rs. 970/- and Rs. 1940/-; principles of natural justice; disproportionate; arbitrary; Article 226; Articles 14, 19(1)(g), 21; commercial death; Malabar Gold and Diamond Limited v. Union of India W.P.(C) 4198/2025 order dated 16.01.2026; Jasmeet Singh, J; High Court of Delhi; order dated 19.03.2026; petition allowed and disposed of

What did the court decide?

Petitioner permitted to operate his frozen bank account subject to the lien of Rs. 970/- and Rs. 1940/- (the disputed amounts); petition allowed and disposed of. ¶¶24

Ajay Kaushik Vs Union of India & Ors. — Writ and Judicial Review | Delhi HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petitioner permitted to operate his frozen bank account subject to the lien of Rs. 970/- and Rs. 1940/- (the disputed amounts); petition allowed and disposed of.

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Issue for consideration

Whether the respondents' blanket freezing of the petitioner's entire bank account, notwithstanding a disputed amount of only Rs. 2910/- and in the absence of any show cause notice or hearing, was illegal, arbitrary and violative of natural justice and fundamental rights, warranting restoration of account operation.

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Court's answer

Freezing of an account entails serious consequences creating hardships for commercial entities and might result in commercial death; the respondent bank cannot be permitted to take such harsh measures without complying with the principles of natural justice and without any application of mind.

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Ratio / Principle

The impugned action of account freezing is not only in clear violation of the principles of natural justice but also disproportionate and an arbitrary exercise of power, striking a blow at the fundamental rights of the petitioner.

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Key takeaways

The impugned action is without due application of mind, being an indiscriminate blanket freeze imposed on the account for allegedly suspicious entries of meager amounts; therefore the action deserves to be set aside.ratio¶¶23
Consequently, the petition is allowed: subject to the lien of Rs. 970/- and Rs. 1940/- (the disputed amounts), the petitioner shall be permitted to operate his account; the petition is disposed of.ratio¶¶24

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bank account freezing — natural justice and proportionality. A Delhi High Court single-judge order (Jasmeet Singh, J, dated 19.03.2026) in a writ petition under Article 226 holds that freezing a pension-account holder's entire account with Punjab National Bank over a disputed sum of merely Rs. 2910/- — without any show cause notice or hearing — violates the principles of natural justice, is disproportionate and an arbitrary exercise of power striking at fundamental rights (Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21), and amounts to an indiscriminate blanket freeze lacking due application of mind, capable of causing 'commercial death'. Relying on a coordinate bench's observations in Malabar Gold and Diamond Limited & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., W.P.(C) 4198/2025 (Order dated 16.01.2026) that blanket freezes against persons neither accused nor suspect are manifestly arbitrary, the Court set aside the impugned action, allowed the petition, and permitted the petitioner to operate his account subject to a lien of Rs. 970/- and Rs. 1940/- (the disputed amounts); the petition was disposed of.

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$~71

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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- W.P.(C) 3523/2026

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AJAY KAUSHIK .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Ankit Kumar & Mr. Abhishek Suchari, Advs. versus

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UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr Vinay Yadav, CGSC with Ms Kamna Behrani and Mr Neeraj P. Raj, Advs. Mr. Santosh Kumar Rout, Adv.

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASMEET SINGH

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O R D E R % 19.03.2026

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This is a writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking the following reliefs:-

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“a. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction directing the Respondents to immediately de-freeze and restore full operation of the Petitioner’s bank account bearing Account No. 0128000100659974, IFSC PUNB0012800, maintained with Punjab National Bank;

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b. Declare the action of freezing the Petitioner's p e n s ion bank account as illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional, and violative of Articles 14, 19(1)(g), and 21 of the Constitution of

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This is a digitally signed order.

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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 30/03/2026 at 17:53:56

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India…”

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In the present case, the entire account of the petitioner has been frozen without any show cause notice and without any hearing.

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For the said reason, issue notice.

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Mr. Yadav, learned counsel accepts notice on behalf of respondent Nos. 1 and 2. Mr. Rout, learned counsel accepts notice on behalf of respondent no. 3 and has vehemently opposed the petition.

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From a perusal of the record (Annexure -3 & 4), it is clear that the disputed amount comes to Rs. 2910/-, yet the entire account of the petitioner has been frozen.

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The freezing of an account is an action entailing serious consequences creating hardships for commercial entities in their smooth functioning and the same might result in commercial death for the petitioner. The respondent bank cannot be permitted to take such harsh measures without complying with the principles of natural justice and without any application of mind.

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Additionally, a coordinate bench of this Court has made categorical observations in paragraph No. 19 of its Order dated 16.01.2026 titled as Malabar Gold and Diamond Limited & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., W.P.(C) 4198/2025, that actions of blanket freeze in cases where the account holder is neither an accused nor a suspect, are manifestly arbitrary and in clear violation of Article 19(1)(g) and Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

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For the said reasons, I am of the view that the impugned action of account freezing in the present case is not only in clear violation of the principles of natural justice but also disproportionate and an arbitrary exercise of power thereby striking a blow at the fundamental rights of the

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This is a digitally signed order.

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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 30/03/2026 at 17:53:56

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petitioner. The impugned action is without due application of mind as an indiscriminate blanket freeze has been imposed on the account of the petitioner for allegedly suspicious entries of meager amounts. Therefore, the action deserves to be set aside.

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9. Consequently, the petition is allowed and it is hereby directed that subject to the lien of Rs. 970/- and Rs. 1940/- (disputed amounts) the petitioner shall be permitted to operate his account. 10. The petition is disposed of.

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JASMEET SINGH, J

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MARCH 19, 2026/NG

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This is a digitally signed order.

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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 30/03/2026 at 17:53:56

¶29

This is a digitally signed order. 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 30/03/2026 at 17:53:56

Ajay Kaushik v. Union of India & Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Ajay Kaushik v. Union of India & Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

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