Hasten frozen account issue, society urges Bombay high court

Counsel for the Adarsh society on Thursday told the Bombay high court that his client doesn’t want to take permission from the CBI every time it has to pay up statutory and other dues, including payments to staff and lawyers.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the society challenging the freezing of their two accounts with the Wodehouse and Cuffe Parade branch of SBI. The accounts have Rs95 lakh and Rs5 lakh, respectively. After an FIR was filed on January 13, 2001, against 13 people, the CBI had raided the residences of the accused and the society office the next day. On January 31, 2011, it wrote to SBI to freeze the accounts.

Additional solicitor general Darius Khambata submitted that the society at the March 15 hearing had agreed to give details of the statutory dues but hasn’t yet. But VA Thorat said that the society “is averse to running to CBI” for paying their dues. He urged the court to hear the matter and “decide one way or the other”. The matter is posted for final hearing on June 24.

“The society is a separate legal entity and the FIR has been filed against certain members only. It is not even CBI’s case that the money is ill-gotten. What is the justification for freezing the accounts,” asked Thorat.