Telangana High Court orders bank to defreeze HCA’s account, citing internal rules

Justice N V Shravan Kumar was dealing with a writ petition filed by HCA, which argued that the account was frozen without due process, and the decision was conveyed to it orally. The judgment was issued on September 2.

The petitioner challenged the unilateral debit freeze on its account by Canara Bank, and sought the court’s direction to pay compensation to the cricket governing body, a sum of Rs 15 lakh, for such illegal action.

The counsel for HCA contended that the case was registered against the office bearers of the present Apex Council of the Association, and that the Authority is merely a third party and not even an accused in the said crime. The counsel added that by freezing the HCA account, operations of the petitioner society have halted since July 2025, and now the society requires the discharge of its financial obligations.

The CID’s case was against members of the apex council, including former president Jaganmohan Rao, on allegations of forgery and misappropriation of funds.

The state government, represented by the Assistant Government Pleader for Home, contended that HCA was required to adhere to its own Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations. The counsel said Rule 22 (2) mandates that the bank account be operated by two authorised signatories designated by the Apex Council from its professional management.

The court directed HCA to follow its own rules, and that the new incumbents representing the petitioner’s association names must be noted in the KYC records. The court also directed the bank to consider these resolutions and proceedings issued by the petitioner’s association.

Based on this, the court issued its final directive, ordering the bank to unfreeze the account, subject to compliance with Rule 22(2) of the Rules. The judgment accordingly disposed of the writ petition with no orders passed as to costs.