Telangana High Court
Smt. D. Satya vs The State Of Telangana And 4 Others on 11 February, 2022
Author: Shameem Akther
Bench: Shameem Akther
THE HON'BLE Dr. JUSTICE SHAMEEM AKTHER
WRIT PETITION No.2989 OF 2022
ORDER:
This Writ Petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, is filed seeking the following relief:
"to issue an appropriate Writ, Order or Direction more particularly in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 2nd respondent in freezing the petitioner's two current accounts, Induslnd Bank Ac Nos.154444447777 and 254444447777 with respondent No.3 bank, DBS Bank Ac No. 0602360000002009 with respondent No 4 bank, and Federal bank account Nos. 99980116538880 86 16090200005398 with respondent No 5 bank. in connection with Cr.Nos.1786/2021 and 1713/2021 filed U/sec 66
(c), 66 (D) of IT Act and Sections 419 and 420 I.P.C on the file of the S.H.O, Cyber Crimes P.S, C.C.S, D.D, Hyderabad, is illegal, arbitrary, violative of principles of natural justice, violative of Banking Laws, consequently direct the 2nd respondent to defreeze the above accounts to enable the petitioner to operate the same
2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Assistant Government Pleader for Home, appearing for the respondent Nos.1 and 2 and perused the record.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the petitioner is a resident of Tamil Nadu State and she is a Dr.SA,J wp_2989_2022 2 housewife. The petitioner has nothing to do with registration of Crime No.1786 of 2021 of Cyber Crime Station, DD, Hyderabad, registered for the offence punishable under Section 66 (c), 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Sections 419 and 420 of I.P.C. The petitioner has been trading in crypto currency through online trading platform called 'Binance P2P'. The petitioner registered into the said platform through her email ID. On the subject trading platform, traders can buy and sell crypto, USDT etc., without knowing each other. On the said platform, the petitioner has sold USDT to one person by name Maheshbhai Ravjibhai Happani. The petitioner has made five (5) transactions from 16.09.2021 to 12.11.2021 with the said person. During the course of investigation, the respondent-police requested respondent Nos.3 to 5 banks, to freeze the petitioner's bank accounts. Despite, the petitioner giving sufficient explanation, the respondent- police are willfully and wantonly harassing her to come to Hyderabad. The petitioner has no role whatsoever in the subject crime. Further, the petitioner was not served with any notice. Respondent No.2 without having any valid Dr.SA,J wp_2989_2022 3 reason, had frozen the petitioner's bank accounts and ultimately, prayed this Court to defreeze the petitioner's bank accounts.
4. On the other hand, learned Assistant Government Pleader for Home, on instructions, would submit that basing on the complaint lodged by one Sri Prabhu Kumar, the subject crime was registered and investigated into. The accused persons cheated the complainant company and squeezed total amount of Rs.1.5 crores. During the course of investigation, the respondent-police sent notices to the concerned banks and thereby debit frozen the bank accounts produced by the complainant. The respondent- police also sent a notice under Section 91/102 of Cr.P.C, to the bank authorities with a request to furnish the beneficiaries accounts statements, KYC and other related information pertaining to the said accounts. On 08.11.2021, fraudulent amount of Rs.1,01,204.25 ps was transferred to the petitioner account from account of Maheshbhai Ravjibhai Happani bearing No.139505005123 of ICICI Bank. The matter is under investigation. An intimation was given to the higher officials as per Section 102 (2) (3) of Dr.SA,J wp_2989_2022 4 Cr.P.C. Further, against registration of subject crime, an effective and efficacious remedy is available to the petitioner under the Code of Criminal Procedure and ultimately, prayed this Court to dismiss the Writ Petition.
5. The allegation against the petitioner is that the amount transferred to her accounts is fraudulent amount. Whether the amount transferred to the bank accounts of the petitioner is derived from the transactions made in relation to crypto currency etc., or some other transactions, is required to be determined by the competent Criminal Court. Furthermore, under Sections 451 or 457 of Cr.P.C. the grievance of the petitioner can be redressed before the competent Criminal Court. When such an enabling provision is available to the petitioner under the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is not appropriate for this Court to examine the issues raised in this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and grant the relief sought by the petitioner. The petitioner is at liberty to workout the remedies before the competent Criminal Court.
Dr.SA,J wp_2989_2022 5
6. With the above observations, the Writ Petition is disposed of.
Miscellaneous Petitions, if any, pending in this Writ Petition shall stand closed. There shall be no order as to costs.
____________________ Dr. SHAMEEM AKTHER, J Date: 11.02.2022 YVL Dr.SA,J wp_2989_2022 6 THE HON'BLE Dr. JUSTICE SHAMEEM AKTHER WRIT PETITION No.2989 OF 2022 Date:11.02.2022 YVL