Allahabad High Court
RAVI SHANKAR PANDEYversusSTATE OF U.P. AND 3 OTHERS
- Decided
Holding
The Court held that the petitioner must apply to the bank for defreezing, and the bank must decide the request within two weeks, referencing the Ashish Rawat judgment.
Summary
Petitioner Ravi Shankar Pandey filed a writ petition under Article 226 seeking the defreezing of his bank account No. 3207101003530, which had been frozen following a complaint to an investigating agency alleging doubtful transactions. The respondent bank contended that the freeze was justified on the basis of the complaint. The Court examined whether it could directly order the defreezing of the account. Relying on the precedent set in Ashish Rawat v. Union of India (Writ‑C No. 1489 of 2026), the Court held that the petitioner must first apply to the bank for defreezing. The Court directed the bank to decide the application within two weeks of receiving a certified copy of the order. Consequently, the writ petition was disposed with the said direction.
Issues considered
- Whether a writ court can directly order the defreezing of a bank account frozen on suspicion of doubtful transactions.
- Whether the petitioner must approach the bank first for defreezing before seeking relief from the court.
Subjects
- Bank account freeze
- Defreezing
- Article 226
- Writ petition
- Doubtful transactions
- Investigating agency
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
WRIT - C No. - 36375 of 2026
Ravi Shankar Pandey
.....Petitioner(s)
Versus
State Of U.P. And 3 Others
.....Respondent(s)
Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Vishveshwar Mani Tripathi
Counsel for Respondent(s) : C.S.C., Krishna Mohan Asthana
Court No. - 1
HON'BLE AJIT KUMAR, J.
HON'BLE GARIMA PRASHAD, J.
1. Heard Sri Vishveshwar Mani Tripathi, learned counsel for the
petitioner and Sri S.K. Srivastava, 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. 3207101003530.
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.
(Garima Prashad,J.) (Ajit Kumar,J.)
September 11, 2026
IrfanUddin
Digitally signed by :-
IRFAN UDDIN SIDDIKI
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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