Madhya Pradesh High Court orders frozen account released, only disputed sum held

The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Indore on 27 October 2026 ordered that an account holder's frozen Axis Bank account be unfrozen, with only the disputed Rs 66,367 kept aside in a fixed deposit. The court applied its earlier rulings that a cyber-fraud freeze should cover the suspect amount, not the whole account.

What Happened

The account holder asked the court to lift a hold placed on the Axis Bank account in a cyber-crime matter, according to the order. The court applied two earlier decisions of the High Court, including a Jabalpur bench order of 27 July 2026 that set guidelines for such freezes under a Ministry of Home Affairs Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) dated 10 April 2026.

Under those guidelines, as quoted in the order, police should, as far as practicable, ask banks to put a lien (a hold on a set sum) only on the disputed amount, and freeze a whole account only in exceptional cases, with written reasons. The bank must tell the customer about the freeze and the grievance mechanism, upload a grievance on the portal within seven days, the investigating officer must decide within fifteen days, and an undecided grievance goes to a District Grievance Redressal Officer. If a grievance stays unresolved for 90 days with no lawful direction to continue the hold, the bank should release it on request after giving police fifteen days' notice.

The court directed that the Rs 66,367 stay in a fixed deposit, to be released only on orders of the competent Judicial Magistrate within three months; failing that, the account holder may withdraw it after informing the police.

What It Means

Customers whose accounts are frozen over a cyber-fraud complaint can first raise a grievance through their bank under the SOP, and ask that only the disputed sum be held. The guidelines say the bank is the first point of contact and should not simply send customers to the police or the courts. Cyber fraud victims can report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or helpline 1930; complaints about a bank can go to https://cms.rbi.org.in.

Source: High Court judgment