HC relief for Chhole Bhature vendor whose bank account frozen after Rs 105 credited from suspicious account

NEW DELHI: Coming to the rescue of a street vendor whose bank account was frozen after Rs 105 was credited to it from an account connected with cyber fraud, the Delhi High Court has directed the bank to de-freeze it citing his right to livelihood.

The high court said it could understand the difficulty being faced by the petitioner, who sells ‘chhole bhature’ on a cart and is dependent on his daily earnings to sustain his family, because his bank account has been frozen.

Justice Manoj Jain said such a restriction on the bank account without even hinting that the petitioner was either mastermind or accomplice in the cybercrime or knowingly received the funds as part of any illegal activity will not be justifiable and sustainable at the moment.

The court directed the Union Bank of India to “defreeze” the account by marking a lien restricted to the disputed amount — Rs 105 — credited in his account.

“This is being done to ensure that a small-scale vendor like petitioner herein is in a position to continue to do his business and there is no violation of his valuable right of livelihood,” the judge said and asked the bank to send an intimation in this regard to the investigating agency probing the fraud case.

The court said since the lien of Rs 105 has been directed to be marked in his account, the man would be permitted to operate his bank account in whatever manner he wants.

The court noted that as per the communication of the investigating agency, the cyber fraud involved Rs 71,000, out of which Rs 105 only landed in the petitioner’s account.

It said there was nothing to indicate that the petitioner was part of any conspiracy or a cyber criminal and he may not even be connected with the offence at all and might be an unintended beneficiary only.

“Indubitably, passing of an order of freezing the entire bank account of the petitioner has a serious and adverse implication and invades and encroaches upon his invaluable right to earn and live with dignity.

“The impugned action, in essence, amounts to a violation of the fundamental right of the petitioner, as it directly undermines his right to livelihood, which is an integral part of the Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the court said.

According to the petition, the man, who was earning his livelihood by selling ‘chhole bhature’ on a cart in Ashok Vihar in northwest Delhi, tried to operate his bank account in October, but he could not do so.

He rushed to the bank to ascertain the reason and was then informed that some unknown person had remitted Rs 105 to his account and that amount was connected with some cyber fraud.

The man submitted that he neither has any knowledge nor complicity with the cyber fraud suspect and added that his account could not have been frozen without giving any prior notice.

According to the man, his bank account has a balance of Rs 1.22 lakh but he was not in a position to utilise the amount even for meeting daily expenses.

He said that most customers make online payments after purchasing the food items from him, so he had no reason to take the credit suspiciously.

The high court said undoubtedly, the investigating agency is fully empowered to conduct a probe and it can also send a request to the bank concerned to freeze an account, pending investigation.

This is generally done so that cheated money remains secured and intact, it said. (PTI)