A Special NDPS Court at Greater Bombay, presided over by Judge U. C. Deshmukh, has ordered the defreezing of a bank account belonging to Rhea Chakraborty and co-applicant Sandhya Chakraborty, holding that the action of the Narcotic Control Bureau was not in compliance with the mandatory provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985.

The applicants had approached the Court seeking defreezing of their ICICI Bank account, contending that the freezing order was illegal due to non-compliance with Section 68F of the Act. The prosecution opposed the plea, alleging that Rhea Chakraborty was an active member of a drug syndicate and had links with drug peddlers, thereby justifying the freezing of the account.

However, the Court noted that Section 68F(2) of the NDPS Act mandates that any order of seizure or freezing must be confirmed by the competent authority within 30 days, failing which such order becomes ineffective. In the present case, the prosecution did not dispute that no such confirmation had been obtained.

Relying on precedent, including Jatinder Kaur Chilotra v. Intelligence Officer, All MR (Cri) 1120, the Court emphasised that the power to freeze property is not unregulated and must strictly comply with statutory safeguards, particularly given its impact on the constitutional right to property. The absence of confirmation by the competent authority rendered the freezing order unsustainable in law.

Accordingly, the Court allowed the application and directed that the bank account be defrozen, permitting the applicants to operate it in accordance with RBI regulations.

Appearance :

For the Applicants: Ld. Adv. Ayaz Khan a/w Zehra Charania.

For the Respondents: Ld. APP Geeta Nayyar.