CHENNAI: The Madras High Court “condemned” a police officer for freezing the bank account of a person in Chennai following complaints of a money dispute, observing it was unjustified unless the funds are proved to be proceeds of a crime.
Justice G Jayachandran, in a recent order, said, “A complaint of default in repayment of money will not per se attract offence under Sections 420 of IPC (cheating) and 66D (cheating by communication device) of the Information Technology Act, even if there is some element of ingredient to attract these offences. Certainly, it does not empower the investigation officer to freeze the account of the suspected accused without being satisfied that the amount lying in the account is proceeds of crime.”
The judge observed the complaint does not even “disclose any cognisable offence”, however, the police registered the FIR and instructed the bank to freeze the account “without applying mind”.
The judge said the petitioner, Mohamed Abusalihu, who approached the court to unfreeze his bank account, was subjected to undue hardship under the “guise of investigation”. The judge directed the inspector to intimate the Federal Bank to de-freeze the petitioner’s account. Alleging Mohamed had defaulted on a loan repayment of Rs 1 lakh, Jayasamraj complained with the Ramapuram police.