Allahabad High Court
VEENA SINGHversusUNION OF INDIA AND 2 OTHERS
- Decided
Holding
The court ordered the bank to move the Rs.10,000 to its escrow account and unfreeze the petitioner’s account, directing the bank to refund the amount to the actual owner.
Summary
The petitioner, Veena Singh, filed a writ petition alleging that her bank account was frozen after a Rs.10,000 online fraud transaction, reported by Coimbatore Police, was credited to her account. She claimed ignorance of how the amount was deposited and sought relief to access her funds. The court examined the petition and found no objection from the petitioner to the proposed remedy. It directed the respondent bank to transfer the disputed Rs.10,000 into its escrow account and subsequently unfreeze the petitioner’s account, allowing her to withdraw her own funds. The bank was also instructed to refund the amount to the actual owner from whose account the money was originally taken. With these directions, the writ petition was disposed of.
Issues considered
- What relief, if any, is appropriate when a bank account is frozen due to an alleged online fraud amount credited to the account holder?
- Whether the bank should transfer the disputed amount to an escrow account and unfreeze the petitioner’s account pending refund to the true owner.
Subjects
- online fraud
- account freeze
- escrow
- bank liability
- writ petition
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
WRIT - C No. - 10289 of 2026
Veena Singh
.....Petitioner(s)
Versus
Union Of India And 2 Others
.....Respondent(s)
Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Amit Kumar Srivastava, Rajesh Kumar
Mishra
Counsel for Respondent(s) : A.S.G.I., Anadi Krishna Narayana,
Shashi Dhar Sahai, Vivek Tripathi
Court No. - 2
HON'BLE ATUL SREEDHARAN, J.
HON'BLE SIDDHARTH NANDAN, J.
1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Shashi Dhar Sahai,
learned counsel for the respondent Nos.2 & 3.
2. Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that on account of
information received from the Coimbatore Police with regard to an online
fraud of Rs.10,000/- which has been deposited with the account of the
petitioner, the account of the petitioner has been frozen.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he is not aware as to how
the said offending amount was deposited in his account.
4. Under the circumstances, this petition is disposed of by directing the
respondent Bank to take down the amount of Rs.10,000/- from the account
of the petitioner into Escrow Account of the Bank and thereafter unfreeze
the account of the petitioner so that she may withdraw her amount, to which
petitioner has no objection.
5. It will be responsibility of the Bank to refund the amount to the actual
owner from whose account the said amount was taken and deposited in the
account of the petitioner.
6. With the above direction, the writ petition stands disposed of.
March 19, 2026
R.S. Tiwari
(Siddharth Nandan,J.) (Atul Sreedharan,J.)
Digitally signed by :-
RAVI SHANKAR TIWARI
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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