Bank cannot withhold passport, OCI card even if handed over voluntarily: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court recently ruled that banks cannot withhold the passport or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card of an accused even if they are surrendered voluntarily. [Koshy Varghese v UOI].Justice M Nagaprasanna held, "Even if the petitioner had offered by way of an undertaking that he would deposit the OCI card and the passport with the Bank authorities, the Bank had no jurisdiction to keep it beyond 15 days. It is the property that had to be transferred to the authorities who have issued the passport or the OCI card.".The petitioner, a United Kingdom citizen with an OCI card, was booked for criminal conspiracy and other offences following a complaint filed by the erstwhile Vijaya Bank (currently Bank of Baroda).According to the bank, on October 3, 2018, the petitioner had voluntarily assured to close two housing loan accounts. As the petitioner did not fulfill this commitment, the bank instructed the surrender of his passport..The petitioner contended that he was compelled to surrender his original passport and OCI card. He asserted that the Bank lacks the authority to retain either document.He added that only the Ministry of External Affairs, in accordance with the Foreigners Act, holds the prerogative to take any necessary action with respect to the OCI card.The bank denied the allegations and pointed out that the petitioner deposited the original passport voluntarily..The Court emphasized that as the passport in question was not issued by any Indian authority, no entity within the country had the jurisdiction to withhold or impound it. Additionally, the bank lacked the authority to even retain the passport for an extended period of four years, it added."Both the acts, on their face, are without jurisdiction. Even if it is voluntarily handed over to the Bank, the Bank does not have the authority to keep the aforesaid documents with it. The Bank ought to have immediately intimated the authorities who could have taken up proceedings in accordance with law,” the Court noted.Thereby, the Court allowed the petition and directed that the passport and the OCI card be returned to the petitioner following appropriate verification..Advocate Dilip Kumar IS represented the petitioner.Advocates Aditya Singh, Nagaraj Damodar and Navya Shekhar represented the respondents..[Read Order]