Kerala HC Flags AI-Drafted Writs in Bank Account De-Freezing Cases, Mandates Impleadment of Local SHO

Noting a surge in AI-generated petitions seeking the de-freezing of bank accounts, the Kerala High Court has directed that the Station House Officer of the police station covering the petitioner’s address be impleaded as a party in all such writ petitions before they are numbered, until further orders.

The order was passed by Justice M.A. Abdul Hakhim while considering a writ petition seeking a direction to a bank to de-freeze the petitioner’s account, which had been frozen in connection with suspected financial cyber fraud.

At the outset, the Court noted the sheer volume of such cases reaching it on a daily basis. “Every day, this Court has been dealing with nearly 200 cases involving financial cyber fraud with respect to bank accounts,” the judge said, adding that banks sometimes freeze accounts on the basis of requisitions received from police authorities and, in other instances, act on their own suspicion.

The Court further noted that in most writ petitions, the prayer is for de-freezing of the account on the ground that the petitioner has no involvement in the alleged crime and that the money received was part of a genuine business transaction without knowledge of any fraud. However, the Court found that in a large number of cases, the petitions do not disclose even the nature of the alleged business or the details of the transactions relied upon.

“Many writ petitions are filed by persons who have just crossed the majority,” the Court observed, adding that banks have reported instances of accounts showing transactions running into crores of rupees within a short period after opening, patterns that do not match the details furnished by the account holders at the time of opening the accounts.

Justice M.A. Abdul Hakhim went on to further highlight the manner in which these petitions are filed before the Court. The judge said that most of these writ petitions are being filed through young members of the Bar, often without sufficient pleadings or prayers. The Court observed that some petitions appear to be AI-generated and do not contain basic material facts.

“Instances are several where the Advocates are not even able to answer or explain the queries put to them by this Court with reference to the pleadings in the writ petitions,” the judge recorded. The Court also noted that, as per information received from the Registry, this category of cases has become the highest in number, necessitating the constitution of a separate subject roster for listing such matters.

In view of this, the Court held that greater caution was required while dealing with writ petitions seeking de-freezing of bank accounts. Emphasising the need to ensure that petitions are genuinely filed by the persons shown as petitioners, the Court held that requisite safeguards were necessary to enable it to form a prima facie opinion.

“The above-said facts persuade this Court to exercise greater caution while dealing with writ petitions seeking the de-freezing of accounts,” the judge observed.

It added that it must be ensured that such petitions are actually filed by the persons named as petitioners.

“This Court deems it necessary to direct the impleadment of the Police Station which covers the area of the address of the Petitioner, which is shown in the Writ Petition, in all these Writ Petitions to confirm that the filing of the Writ Petitions is by the Petitioners themselves and also to get the details of the Petitioners in order to enable this Court to form a prima facie opinion,” the Court said.

The Court thus ordered the Registry to ensure that the SHO of the police station having jurisdiction over the petitioner’s address is made a party in all writ petitions pertaining to the de-freezing of bank accounts before such petitions are numbered, until further orders.

Case Title: Blue Star Aluminium & Door House v. Federal Bank and Anr.

Bench: Justice M.A. Abdul Hakhim

Order Date: 10 December, 2025