Supreme Court ने अनक्लेम्ड बैंक फंड्स तक पहुँच के बारे में प्रश्न उठाए
The Supreme Court on 17 March 2026 heard a PIL filed in 2022 by financial journalist Sucheta Dalal. The petition seeks a directive for a centralised, searchable database of dormant or inoperative accounts so that legal heirs can claim unclaimed deposits, securities, insurance and post‑office balances.
Key Developments
- Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked the Union and the RBI to explain why account details cannot be disclosed to heirs.
- Advocate Prashant Bhushan highlighted that over ₹1.5 lakh crore lies in unclaimed accounts, including amounts transferred to the DEAF and the IEPF.
- The bench expressed concern that publishing account details could invite fraud, but also noted that the issue is not merely a policy question.
- The Central KYC mechanism already exists, according to the RBI’s counsel.
- The Union, through Additional Solicitor General N. Venkataraman, reiterated that genuine heirs can claim refunds from the DEAF, but no concrete data on the scale of the problem was presented.
Important Facts
• The petition seeks mandatory reporting of dormant accounts by banks to the RBI and the creation of an online portal displaying name, address and last transaction date of the deceased account‑holder.
• The IEPF website reportedly suffers technical glitches, forcing claimants to use middlemen.
• The amount in the IEPF grew from ₹400 crore in 1999 to over ₹4,100 crore by March 2020.
Exam Relevance
Understanding the legal and regulatory framework surrounding unclaimed assets touches upon several