The Supreme Court has directed that a petition seeking the formulation of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to govern the freezing and de-freezing of bank accounts during cybercrime investigations be placed before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and SVN Bhatti passed the order after Additional Solicitor General Anil Kaushik informed the court that a suo motu matter concerning digital arrests—pending before a bench led by the CJI—already involves similar issues.
“In view of the above, the registry to obtain appropriate orders from the Chief Justice of India and post the matter accordingly,” the bench recorded in its order dated January 16.
The petition, filed by Vivek Varshney through advocate Tushar Manohar Khairnar, raises serious concerns over the arbitrary freezing of bank accounts by cybercrime units without timely communication or legal safeguards.
The plea seeks two major reliefs:
- Prayer B: No account should be frozen without a written, reasoned order and a mandatory intimation to the account holder within 24 hours. Further, every such action should be immediately reported to the jurisdictional magistrate, as required under Section 106(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) or Section 102(3) of the CrPC.
- Prayer C: A direction to the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to formulate a uniform SOP applicable across all states to prevent arbitrary actions and ensure procedural fairness in cybercrime probes involving financial transactions.
Varshney alleged that his bank account was frozen by the Cyber Cell of Tamil Nadu Police without any prior notice, judicial approval, or statutory compliance. He claimed the move caused complete financial paralysis, restricting his ability to meet both professional and personal obligations, including paying taxes and essential expenses.
The petition emphasizes the lack of any consistent national policy or SOP, resulting in “inconsistent practices, prolonged freezing periods, and deprivation of financial rights without due process” across states.
“Recognising the increasing frequency of such cases, there is an urgent need to save the common man from unnecessary harassment,” the plea states.
The petitioner further argued that unless an account holder is proven to be complicit in a crime, their account should not be frozen in its entirety merely because it received or made a suspicious transaction. He also urged the apex court to direct the Ministry of Home Affairs to frame a uniform SOP to prevent misuse of account freezing powers by investigative agencies.
At the outset of the hearing, ASG Kaushik submitted that the Central Government had not ordered the freezing of Varshney’s account. However, given the broader implications of the issue, and the overlap with the suo motu proceedings already underway, the bench deemed it appropriate to refer the case to the CJI.
The top court had earlier issued notice in the matter on January 6 and asked the petition copy to be served on the Centre within three days.
The case is now expected to be listed before the bench handling the suo motu writ on digital arrests and procedural safeguards in cybercrime investigations.
