Bikaner Lok Adalat's major ruling: Wrong to freeze entire account for a suspicious transaction, directs SBI to reactivate immediately.
This case is related to the SBI branch in Arjunsar, Bikaner. An amount of ₹1000 was deposited into the complainant's account on May 9, 2025. This amount was part of a cybercrime complaint being investigated by the Punjab Police.
The complainant stated that he had no information about this amount or the person who sent it. Despite this, the bank suspended the operation of the entire account based on a notice from the police.
In its defense, the bank stated that the action was taken as per the instructions received from the SAS Nagar (Punjab) police station. The account was frozen as it was deemed suspicious due to a complaint registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
While hearing the case, the Permanent Lok Adalat rejected the bank's argument. The court clarified that freezing an entire account for a single suspicious transaction is a violation of the customer's rights.
The court held that closing the entire bank account due to a disputed amount of merely ₹1000 constitutes a Deficiency in Service.
Advocate Gopal Singh Solanki effectively presented arguments on behalf of the complainant, which were accepted by the court.
To strengthen its order, the court also cited a recent judgment of the Kerala High Court. In the case of 'Dr. Sachin vs. Reserve Bank of India' dated September 25, 2023, it was similarly ruled that banks can only block the disputed amount, not the entire account.
On this basis, the Permanent Lok Adalat ordered the SBI, Arjunsar branch, to immediately activate the complainant's account and allow all banking transactions, while keeping the disputed amount of ₹1000 on hold. This decision has become a significant precedent in such cases.
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