Kolkata court disposes Abhishek Banerjee plea after KYC reactivates bank account
The Calcutta High Court closed Abhishek Banerjee's petition after his bank account and cards were restored following KYC submission. The hearing also underscored that banks should seek compliance first and block services only as a later step.
The Calcutta High Court on Monday disposed of a petition filed by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee after his bank account and debit and credit cards were reactivated following the submission of KYC documents to a private bank.
Banerjee had moved the court after claiming that his bank account was frozen and his debit and credit cards were blocked on August 10, the day the Supreme Court allowed him to travel abroad for medical reasons. His lawyer told the court that the Diamond Harbour MP plans to go abroad this week.
During the hearing, Justice Krishna Rao verbally observed that in the case of any customer, a bank should first issue a notice seeking the required information for KYC updation and should not block debit and credit cards at the outset.
The court also said that if a customer avoids providing the required information, the bank may then say it has no other option but to block the cards.
The petition challenging the freezing of the account and blocking of the cards was disposed of after Banerjee submitted all documents to a bank official at his residence. The court recorded the bank's submission that his account and cards had been reactivated after the KYC documents were furnished.
Appearing for Banerjee, lawyer Ayan Bhattacharjee said that under RBI guidelines, a bank can impose partial freezing of an account in a phased manner only if the customer does not provide the required KYC information despite repeated reminders.
The bank's lawyer said the lender had not violated RBI guidelines and had no intention of harassing the customer, and that it had only sought additional KYC from Banerjee.
The bank's lawyer also told the court that notices are issued to customers seeking KYC documents. She said the bank's central team blocked Banerjee's account on the basis of third-party data and an email was generated to the customer. She further said the account was automatically blocked due to a high-risk factor. During an earlier hearing on August 20, the bank's lawyer had said that Banerjee's name, PAN number and mobile numbers were linked with cases initiated by the Enforcement Directorate.
With the bank telling the court that Banerjee's account and cards had been restored after he submitted the KYC documents, the high court closed the matter on Monday.