Can Property Of Person Accused Under Prevention Of Corruption Act Be Seized Or Frozen U/S 102 CrPC? Supreme Court To Decide

In the backdrop of divergent High Court views on the point, the Supreme Court is set to decide the issue as to whether Section 102 CrPC, which deals with police officer's power to seize certain property, shall apply to a criminal case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act."The petitioner has raised an interesting issue with regard to the exercise of the power by the enforcement agencies under the provision of section 102 of the Cr.P.C. in cases arising out of the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act", noted a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and PK Mishra in a recent order passed in a petition filed by the State of West Bengal.The Court also stayed the operation of the impugned order passed by the Calcutta High Court, which set aside freezing of bank accounts of the accused-respondent on the basis that the same was done by invoking Section 102 CrPC.Briefly put, the case pertains to a person accused under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, whose assets including fixed deposit accounts were frozen by authorities by invoking Section 102 CrPC. Aggrieved by the same, the accused challenged the freezing of bank accounts before the Calcutta High Court, where the authorities took a stand that the bank accounts had only been seized (and not attached) and as such, Section 18A of the PC Act was not applicable.The High Court, referring to the decision in Ratan Babulal Lath v. The State of Karnataka, observed that Section 18A of PC Act envisages that attachment, administration of attached property, execution of order of attachment and confiscation of money or property procured by means of an offence under the Act shall be governed by Section 18A.As the respondent's bank accounts were frozen by invoking Section 102 CrPC, it set aside the impugned order and directed de-freezing of the said accounts."Since admittedly the bank accounts of the petitioner were frozen by the opposite party by invoking section 102 of the Code and not by procedure under section 18A of the Act, the said freezing cannot be sustained" said the High Court.Notably, diverse views have been taken by the High Courts of Madras and Patna with regard to applicability of Section 102 CrPC in seizure and freezing of bank accounts in a criminal case registered under the PC Act. While the Madras High Court has held in favor of such application, the Patna High Court has held that such seizure and freezing can be made only under Section 18A of PC Act.Case Title: THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL VERSUS ANIL KUMAR DEY SARKAR, SLP(Crl.) No. 1003/2025Click Here To Read/Download Order

Can Property Of Person Accused Under Prevention Of Corruption Act Be Seized Or Frozen U/S 102 CrPC? Supreme Court To Decide

Debby Jain

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