Kerala High Court mandates police verification before hearing pleas to de-freeze bank accounts

The Kerala High Court recently issued a procedural direction to ensure that the identity of any litigant who files a petition to de-freeze bank accounts is verified before the petition can be heard [Suo Motu v State of Kerala]..The Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar VM issued the direction while disposing a Judicial Practice and Procedure (JPP) proceeding, which was initiated suo motu by the Court.The Court has ordered the Registry to not entertain any de-freezing petitions, unless the Station House Officer (SHO) of the police station having jurisdiction over the petitioner's address is impleaded as a respondent.The Court added that before any order is passed in such matters, the public prosecutor must verify the identity of the petitioner through the concerned police SHO and ensure that the SHO files an affidavit confirming the petitioner's identity."The Registry is directed not to accept any writ petition or other petition in which a prayer is made for defreezing of the bank accounts, unless the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Police Station having jurisdiction over the area of the petitioner’s address is impleaded as a party respondent. In all such matters, before any order is passed, the learned Public Prosecutor shall ascertain the proper identity of the writ petitioner through the SHO of the concerned Police Station and insist upon the filing of an affidavit by the SHO establishing the identity of the writ petitioner," the Court ordered..The Registrar General was directed to circulate the Court's order to the Director General of Police (DGP) for information and compliance, and to all judges of the High Court to ensure uniform implementation.The DGP was also instructed to forward the order to all the SHOs, the Superintendents of Correctional Homes and the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Prisons for compliance..The JPP proceeding was initiated after a single judge Bench flagged a surge of such cases, where the petition seeking the de-freeze of bank accounts tied to cyber-fraud cases lacked details of genuine transactions, or the petitioner's identity."In most of the Writ Petitions, the prayer of the Petitioner is to de-freeze his account, stating that he has no involvement in the alleged crime, that he got part of the amount involved in the crime out of a genuine business transaction without knowledge of the crime. Surprisingly, in most of the Writ Petitions, the details of such a genuine transaction, or even the nature of the business of the petitioner, are not stated," the single judge had noted in the order passed in December 2025.In the said order, Justice MA Abdul Hakhim had further expressed concern that the Court was being misused by those involved in cyber-fraud to get bank accounts defreezed."This Court believes that the jurisdiction of this Court is being misused by the persons regularly involved in financial cyber fraud, even without knowledge of the Petitioners shown in the Writ Petition, by producing forged documents," Justice Hakhim had said.The single judge, therefore, called on the Registry to ensure that the local SHO is made a party to all petitions seeking the de-freezing of bank accounts, before such petitions are numbered.The said directive is now part of the Court's practice directions, by way of the Division Bench's February 13 order in the JJP proceeding..Advocate Ramola Nayanpally appeared in the suo motu proceedings for the High Court.Special Government Pleader P Narayanan appeared for the State..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.