Karnataka HC.
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The Karnataka High Court has ruled in a judgment that a bank has no jurisdiction to either withhold or retain a passport, or even an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. Justice M Nagaprasanna said this while allowing the petition filed by Koshy Verghese, a citizen of the United Kingdom who holds an OCI card, having been born in India.
In 2019, Vijaya Bank (now Bank of Baroda) had registered a criminal case against the petitioner, a real estate businessman, and others for cheating, forgery, and other offences. The bank claimed that Koshy Verghese had given an undertaking to close the housing loan account of two persons. The amount due by then was around Rs 5.5 crore, and the bank claimed that the undertaking was not adhered to. As the bank had directed him, the petitioner surrendered his passport and OCI card on October 3, 2018.
In 2022, the petitioner moved the high court, claiming that his passport and OCI card had been withheld by the bank without any authority of law. The bank had argued that the documents were voluntarily deposited by the petitioner on the condition till the encashment of cheques given in lieu of clearing the loan amount.
Justice Nagaprasanna stated that even if the petitioner offered to deposit the OCI card and the passport, the bank authorities had no jurisdiction to keep it beyond 15 days. ‘It is a passport issued by the passport office of Great Britain – United Kingdom. Therefore, no authority in this country would have the power to withhold the passport or impound the same. The Bank, on the face of it, did not have any power even to retain the passport for four long years,’ Justice Nagaprasanna said.
The court further stated, ‘The other fact is with regard to the OCI card. The OCI card is issued by the Government of India through the Ministry of External Affairs by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office under the Citizenship Act, 1955 r/w Foreigners Act. This card as well could not have been withheld by the Bank even if it is handed over voluntarily. It is the property of FRRO and the Bank had to transmit it for safe keeping at the FRRO and the FRRO initiating proceedings if necessary in accordance with law.’
The court directed the return of his British passport and OCI card, which had been in the custody of the High Court since October 17, 2022.