1 2026:CGHC:19098 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR W.P(C) No. 5902 of 2024 Dr. Vinay Gupta S/o Late Shri Omkar Prasad Gupta Aged About 69 Years Appointed As Chairman/Managing Trustee Of The Bhawani Sao Ramlal Sao Dharmada Trust, Mungeli (C .G.) R/o Hall Mukam Omkar Nursing Home, Behind Vanijyakar Karyalaya, Warehouse Road, Bilaspur Dist. Bilaspur Chhattisgarh ... Petitioner versus 1 - State Bank Of India Through Its Chairman, Corpoate Centre, State Bank Bhavan, Madame Cama Road, Nariman Point, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400021 2 - The Regional Manager State Bank Of India Regional Office Nehru Nagar, Bilaspur District Bilaspur (C.G.) 3 - The Chief Manager State Bank Of India Branch Mungeli, District Mungeli (C.G.) SISTLA NEELIMA VISHNU PRIYA Digitally signed by SISTLA NEELIMA VISHNU PRIYA Date: 2026.04.27 17:41:44 +0530 2 4 - Registrar Public Trust And Sub Divisional Officer (Revenue) Mungeli, District Mungeli Chhattisgarh ... Respondents For Petitioner : Shri Anup Majumdar, Advocate. For Respondents No.1 to 3 : Shri Harshal Chouhan, Advocate. Hon'ble Shri Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order on Board 25.04.2026 1. Being aggrieved by the inaction of the Respondent Bank authorities in not lifting the freeze on the savings Account No.10950604235 of Bhawani Sao Ramlal Sao Dharmada Trust maintained with State Bank of India and thereby restraining the Petitioner from operating the account for the Trust’s public functions, the present Writ Petition has been filed with the following reliefs:- “10.1 That the Hon'ble Court may graciously be pleased to call entire bank records required for adjudication of the instant case. 10.2 That the Hon'ble Court may graciously be pleased to direct bank authorities to remove freeze on account no. 10950604235 and allow the petitioner being Chairman/Managing trustees of the trust to operate the bank account, in the interest of justice. 10.3 That any other relief which this Hon'ble court may deem fit and just may also kindly be granted to the petitioner, in interest of justice.” 2. Necessary facts for adjudication of the present Petition are that the Petitioner is the Chairman/Managing Trustee of Bhawani 3 Sao Ramlal Sao Dharmada Trust, a registered public charitable trust constituted on 11.01.1961. The Petitioner came to be appointed to the said post vide order dated 16.10.2019 passed by the competent authority, which appointment stands affirmed upon culmination of earlier disputes inter se trustees including adjudication by this Court and has attained finality. The Trust, established for public charitable purposes, operates, inter alia, a savings bank account bearing No. 10950604235 with State Bank of India, which has historically been operated by the Chairman/Managing Trustee. Owing to prior disputes regarding appointment, the said account was frozen by the Bank, however, despite resolution of such disputes and repeated representations by the Petitioner seeking de-freezing of the account, the Bank has declined to permit its operation, insisting upon consent of all trustees. It is the Petitioner’s case that no lis now survives with respect to his appointment and therefore, continuation of the freeze on the account is arbitrary, without authority of law and the same is adversely affecting the functioning of the Trust. 3. Learned counsel for the Petitioner submits that the Petitioner, being the duly authorized Chairman/Managing Trustee, is entitled to operate the Trust’s bank account bearing No.10950604235. It is contended that despite submission of sufficient documents establishing such authority, the Respondent-Bank has, without any 4 plausible justification, obstructed the operation of the said account. It is further submitted that the Bank has no authority in law to freeze or stop operation of the account in the manner done and even assuming any doubt with regard to the documents, the Bank ought to have sought further clarification or additional documents instead of restraining the operation of the Account, which action is arbitrary and unsustainable in law. 4. On the other hand, learned Counsel for the Respondent/Bank submits that the Petitioner was called upon to appear before the Bank along with relevant documents to establish his authority to operate the account, however, the Petitioner neither appeared nor furnished the requisite documents to the satisfaction of the Bank, therefore, the Bank was constrained to place the account on hold and as such, the action taken is justified, lawful and does not suffer from any illegality or infirmity. 5. Considering the submissions advanced by learned Counsel for the parties and the facts and circumstances of the case, particularly in view of the documents annexed as Annexures P-2 and P-3, it is evident that the Registrar, Public Trust has recorded a categorical finding in Form No.1, taking note of the order passed by this Court dated 30.08.2019, pursuant to which a meeting of the Trust was held on 16.10.2019 and the Petitioner was duly appointed as Chairman/Managing Trustee by resolution. The said 5 material is prima facie sufficient to establish the authority of the Petitioner to operate the Trust account. Accordingly, the Respondent-Bank is directed to consider the aforesaid documents for the purposes of KYC compliance and to pass an appropriate order in accordance with law. In case the Bank still retains any doubt, it shall be open to obtain an affidavit and appropriate declaration from the Petitioner undertaking responsibility in the event of any future dispute and thereafter, subject to such compliance, the Petitioner shall be permitted to operate the Account in question. 6. With the aforesaid observations/directions, the instant Petition stands disposed of. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Priya