Allahabad High Court
VARISversusSTATE OF U.P. AND ANOTHER
- Decided
Holding
The Court held that it will not directly order defreezing but directs the petitioner to apply to the bank, which must decide within two weeks.
Summary
Petitioner Varis filed a writ petition under Article 226 seeking the defreezing of his bank account (No. 41386040652) which had been frozen following a complaint to an investigating agency about suspicious transactions. The respondent bank argued that the freeze was justified pending investigation. The Court noted the procedural propriety of the freeze and, rather than ordering immediate defreezing, directed the petitioner to apply to the bank for defreezing. The bank was instructed to decide the application within two weeks of receiving a certified copy of the order, in line with the precedent set in Ashish Rawat v. Union of India. Consequently, the petition was disposed of with the said directions.
Issues considered
- Whether the High Court can directly order the defreezing of a bank account frozen on suspicion of doubtful transactions
- Whether the petitioner must approach the bank for defreezing and the bank’s time‑frame for decision
Subjects
- Bank account freeze
- Defreezing
- Article 226
- Writ petition
- Investigating agency
- Judicial direction
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
WRIT - C No. - 36012 of 2026
Varis
.....Petitioner(s)
Versus
State of U.P. and Another
.....Respondent(s)
Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Rajat Kumar Shukla
Counsel for Respondent(s) : Parshuram Chaubey, C.S.C., Satish
Chaturvedi
Court No. - 1
HON'BLE AJIT KUMAR, J.
HON'BLE SIDDHARTH NANDAN, J.
1. Heard Sri Rajat Kumar Shukla, learned counsel for the petitioner and
Sri Parshuram Chaubey, learned counsel for the respondent bank.
2. By means of this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution,
petitioner has prayed for defreezing of bank account no. 41386040652.
3. Learned counsel for the respondent-Bank submits that the account has
been primarily freezed on a complaint received by the Investigating
Agency, there being doubtful transactions in his account.
4. In view of the above, the present writ petition is disposed of with a
direction to the petitioner to apply before the concerned respondent for
de-freezing of the account. If he does so, the concerned respondent shall
decide the same within a further period of two weeks from the date of
receipt of a certified copy of this order, in the light of the judgment of this
Court in Ashish Rawat v. Union of India and 6 others, passed in Writ-C
No. 1489 of 2026, decided on 08.04.2026.
(Siddharth Nandan,J.) (Ajit Kumar,J.)
September 17, 2026
Sartaj
Digitally signed by :-
SARTAJ AHMAD
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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