Authority: High Court at Calcutta

Order Date: 16 July 2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioners: ASL Solutions Tech Private Limited (represented by counsel Kushal Chatterjee, Rohit Agarwal, Sibashis Choudhury) versus the Union of India and others, including AU Small Finance Bank (Branch Manager) and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
  • The Court had earlier, on 2 July 2026, directed the two banks to file reports on the status of the petitioner’s account and the total pending and disputed amounts.
  • AU Small Finance Bank failed to appear despite service of notice.
  • Kotak Mahindra Bank submitted an affidavit stating the petitioner’s current account No. 7850517719 was active but was frozen after receiving a notice from Hulimavu Police Station, Electronic City, Bangalore City Police under Sections 94/104 of the BNSS, 2023.
  • The bank reported a balance of Rs 4,44,550.63 and noted that several online complaints were lodged via the NCR portal, resulting in disputed amounts of approximately Rs 2,13,000 being marked.
  • The communication from the police dated 20 February 2023 did not specify any amount; the account was frozen on receipt of a police report dated 20 February 2026.
  • The petitioner argued that no order under Sections 106/107 of the BNSS had been obtained from a competent court, and relied on the Court’s earlier judgment in WPA 19956 2025 (Tamasha Samanta vs Union of India & Ors., dated 9 December 2025) which held that banks cannot freeze accounts without a court order.
  • The police authorities were also served notice but did not appear to contest or provide a status of any investigation.

Final Outcome

  • The Court held that the freeze was effected solely on the basis of a police report without any competent court order.
  • Both AU Small Finance Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank are directed to defreeze the petitioner’s account and allow normal operation.
  • WPA 11165 of 2026 is hereby disposed of.
  • Parties are instructed to act on the server copy of the order downloaded from the Court’s official website; urgent certified copies may be issued upon compliance with formalities.

Topics: Banking Regulation, Court Order