LUCKNOW, Jan. 30 -- Holding that cybercrime investigators cannot impose a blanket freeze on an entire bank account without following the procedure prescribed under the BNSS, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has set aside a debit freeze imposed on the bank account of Khalsa Medical Store in Sandila town of Hardoi district. A division bench of Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Manjive Shukla passed the order on January 19 on a petition filed by the medical store, quashing a notice issued by the cybercrime police station in Rachakonda, Hyderabad. The notice had directed the private bank to freeze the petitioner's account under sections 94 and 106 of the BNSS in connection with an FIR registered in 2025. The petitioner, represented by its proprietor Yashwant Singh, a medicine trader in Lucknow, approached the court after its bank account was completely debit-frozen through a notice dated November 21, 2025. The notice alleged that the account had been used for fraudulent transfers from a victim's account and sought extensive banking and digital transaction details. The bank informed the court that it had not been provided with any seizure order, a copy of the FIR, or details of the specific amount allegedly linked to the offence. The bank said it had repeatedly written to the investigating officer seeking clarification but received no response. The bench reiterated that while a bank account constitutes "property" and could be seized or its operation restricted during an investigation, such power could not be exercised arbitrarily or on mere suspicion. htc...