Orissa HC Allows Premature Withdrawal Of Post Bank Fixed Deposit For Marriage, Says Hindu Law Recognises It As 'Necessity'

The Orissa High Court has ordered the Post Bank to allow a woman to prematurely withdraw/encash a sum of money, which she had invested in fixed deposits, in order to bear the expenses of a marriage in the family.Refuting the stance of the bank that no such premature withdrawal is permissible, the Bench of Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad was of the opinion that marriage is recognised as a traditional necessity in Hindu Law and thus, one cannot be denied her own wealth for such purpose merely because of existence of a rule to the contrary.“Therefore, it cannot be gainfully argued that petitioner has no pressing need for the funds. After all, the funds in deposit belong to her and not to the Entity, which holds her money in deposit. Ordinarily, owner of a thing is entitled to make use of it in any way he/she desires, unless the law otherwise provides for.”To put succinctly, the petitioner Priyadarsini Das had invested a certain sum of money in National Savings Time Deposit account by way of fixed deposits for a period of five years. Subsequently she sought to encash the invested money in order to cater to a marriage in her family.However, such request faced a denial from the bank authorities who cited Rule 8(d) of the National Savings Time Deposit Scheme, 2019 as an embargo against premature withdrawal of fixed deposits. They argued that such encashment is permissible only after the expiry of at least four years, with an interest rate admissible to post bank savings accounts. Hearing contentions from both the sides, the Court was inclined to grant relief to the petitioner. Justice Shripad opined that it cannot be said that the petitioner has no imminent need for money, and above all, the money belongs to her and not to the bank. He further observed –“It is her own money, which she has parked in five deposits in question for a fixed period of five years. Hindu Law recognizes three traditional necessities, namely, aapaatkaale, vyaahaarike & kutumbaarthe vide Hanoomanpersaud Pandey vs Mussamat Babooee, 6 MIA 393.”The Court was also of the view that the cited Rule cannot be treated as putting a complete bar against premature withdrawal in as much as it does not, by express words, prohibit such early encashment. Furthermore, it said the Rule is merely a subordinate legislation and not a statute, which requires strict interpretation bereft of leniency.Accordingly, the petition was allowed and a writ of mandamus was issued to the respondent authorities directing them to allow the petitioner to encash/withdraw the deposits in question within two weeks, failing which an interest at the rate of 1% per mensem shall be payable.Case Title: Priyadarsini Das v. Union of India & Ors.Case No: W.P.(C) No. 18858 of 2025Date of Judgment: September 22, 2025 Counsel for the Petitioner: M/s. Parsuram Panda, P.K. Satapathy & S. Pati, AdvocatesCounsel for the Respondents: Mr. P.K. Parhi, Deputy Solicitor General of India with Mr. D. Gochhayat, Central Govt CounselCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ori) 125Click Here To Read/Download Order

Orissa HC Allows Premature Withdrawal Of Post Bank Fixed Deposit For Marriage, Says Hindu Law Recognises It As 'Necessity'

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