Need legal advise to unhold ₹4000 from my bank account which is wrongfully held by police due to a cybercrime complaint Police is not willing to cooperate and asking me to visit police station first I have the evidence of the legit transaction in case as it was dealt with another third party and not the complainant. Even the complainant has agreed of the false case and also asked police to withdraw the complaint but police is not willing to co-operate. Please advise.
aDear Sir/Madam, Under the following provisions the Hon’ble Magistrate Court having ample powers to unfreeze the Bank accounts. Further, the Hon’ble Court has vast powers to hand over the properties/vehicles seized by the Police and other authorities to the owners of the properties/vehicles. Such interim orders normally will be made within Thirty days of such interim application and on such orders the Police and other authorities are bound to hand over the properties/vehicles to the persons in whose favour such orders are passed. Section 451 in The Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 451. Order for custody and disposal of property pending trial in certain cases. When any property is produced before any Criminal Court during any inquiry or trial, the Court may make such order as it thinks fit for the proper custody of such property pending the conclusion of the inquiry or trial, and, if the property is subject to speedy and natural decay, or if it is otherwise expedient so to do, the Court may, after recording such evidence as it thinks necessary, order it to be sold or otherwise disposed of. Explanation.- For the purposes of this section," property" includes- (a) property of any kind or document which is produced before the Court or which is in its custody, (b) any property regarding which an offence appears to have been committed or which appears to have been used for the commission of any offence. 457. Procedure by police upon seizure of property. (1) Whenever the seizure of property by any police officer is reported to a Magistrate under the provisions of this Code, and such property is not produced before a Criminal Court during an inquiry or trial, the Magistrate may make such order as he thinks fit respecting the disposal of such property or the delivery of such property to the person entitled to the possession thereof, or if such person cannot be ascertained, respecting the custody and production of such property. (2) If the person so entitled is known, the Magistrate may order the property to be delivered to him on such conditions (if any) as the Magistrate thinks fit and if such person is unknown, the Magistrate may detain it and shall, in such case, issue a proclamation specifying the articles of which such property consists, and requiring any person who may have a claim thereto, to appear before him and establish his claim within six months from the date of such proclamation. Keeping seized vehicle in open air may harm it; petition for custody of vehicle under Section 457 CrPC allowed • Madhya Pradesh High Court: A Single Judge Bench comprising of Anjuli Palo, J., addressed matter where petitioner was aggrieved by an impugned order passed by Ist Additional Sessions Judge Itarsi in a criminal revision whereby the application under Section 457 CrPC, 1973 was dismissed. The petitioner’s vehicle was seized by the police for crime under Sections 4, 6 and 9 of the M.P. GauvansVadhPratishedhAdhiniyam, 2004 and Section 11 of PashuKoortaAdhiniyam, 1960. This petition was filed under Section 482 of Code praying the release of petitioner’s vehicle by virtue of Section 457 of the Code on grounds that impugned orders seizing petitioner’s vehicle were illegal and arbitrary and the vehicle had been kept in open space which could damage the vehicle. Court relied on the case of Sunderbhai Ambalal Desai v. State of Gujarat, (2002) 10 SCC 290 where it was held that seized vehicle should be released as keeping it in open could cause harm to the vehicle. Therefore, Court set aside the impugned order as a result of which the vehicle’s interim custody was given to petitioner on furnishing of a personal bond.
Dear Client, As per your query, in order to unlock the Rs. 4000 frozen by Police, you have to start with a formal application made on police station level and explain that the transaction you did is genuine, along with evidence, like a retraction of the complainant. If the police does not reply, a petition under the provisions of the BNSS, 2023 can be made for the return of property which has been seized, or the Magistrate can also be approached under BNSS, 2023 to obtain an order of directive for police action. As a last resort, bring a Writ of Mandamus under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution in the High Court to mandamus compliance by the police if administrative obstruction continues, attaching all evidence and support of the complainant to your application. Feel free to book an appointment for a detailed discussion on the issue.
