Notice to ICICI, NCB on money transfer of drug case accused

The Bombay High Court today issued notice to ICICI bank and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seeking its reply to a petition filed by an accused in a drug possession case alleging that money was transferred from his bank account despite it being frozen in 2003.
A division bench of Justices P V Hardas and A R Joshi was hearing a petition filed by Altaf Kazi seeking recovery of Rs 1.01 lakh transferred from his ICICI bank account by NCB in 2003, when he was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
Kazi was arrested by the NCB in two different cases in 2003.

Following his arrest, the competent authority with the NCB seized his accounts with the ICICI Bank and United Bank of India and property and one Maruti Zen and a CBZ Hero Honda motorcycle.
The freezing of bank accounts and property was confirmed by the NDPS court on September 3, 2003.
However, Kazi was acquitted in both the cases as per orders passed in October 2007 and January 2008.

After his acquittal, he approached the competent authority for de-freezing of the account which was allowed on August 10, 2011.
Kazi approached ICICI with the order for operating his account which contained a balance of Rs 1.01 lakh.

However, Kazi was informed by ICICI that the money was transferred to NCB in September 2003 itself. The amount was transferred based on a letter issued by the NCB, Kazi's lawyer Ayaz Khan said.
The High Court today directed the bank and NCB to file their affidavits within two weeks.