The Delhi High Court provided relief to a street vendor whose account had been frozen by the Andhra Pradesh police following suspected links to cyber criminals in a judgement delivered on Tuesday, December 17.
The vendor had come under the radar of Andhra police after Rs 105 was sent to his account by an unknown person. The transaction was related to a cyber fraud which prompted Andhra police to order Union Bank to freeze his account.
The street vendor who sells chole bhature in Delhi approached the High Court seeking unblocking of his account saying he was dependent on his daily earnings for sustenance and that he was unable to use even his savings in the account for day-to-day expenses.
He said he had not been intimated of the action being taken on his account in advance nor was he allowed an opportunity to be heard.
Justice Manoj Jain said in his verdict that restricting the vendor’s right to livelihood was violative of his Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21. “Passing of an order of freezing the entire bank account of the petitioner has a serious and adverse implication and invades and encroaches upon his invaluable right to earn and live with dignity,” he said.
The court noted that freezing the vendor’s account without any substantial evidence that hints at him being an accomplice to any illegal activity is not justifiable.
Thus the court ordered unfreezing of the account after marking the lien of the disputed sum of Rs 105.
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