Top Court seeks Fin Min’s response in PIL seeking mechanism to inform legal heirs about unclaimed funds in dormant accounts
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Finance Ministry to file its response in three weeks to a PIL seeking directions to create a centralized database providing information about bank accounts, insurance, deposits, and post office funds (unclaimed funds) lying in accounts held by those who are no longer alive. The PIL, filed by noted journalist Sucheta Dalal, also sought a direction to set up a mechanism to inform the legal heirs of deceased depositors about the unclaimed deposits lying dormant in bank accounts.
“While the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has filed its counter affidavit, the counsel for the Union of India submits that the Ministry of Finance may be granted some time to file its counter affidavit. The counter affidavit (response) be filed within three weeks,” a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala said. The top court then listed the PIL for further hearing on April 28.
The court had earlier issued notices to the two union ministries, the market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and the RBI (Reserve Bank of India). The plea has also sought a direction to establish a procedure that eliminates unnecessary litigation while dealing with claims of legal heirs qua bank deposits, insurance, post office funds, etc.
The plea filed by Sucheta Dalal said that the Depositors’ Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) had Rs.39,264.25 crore at the end of March 2021, up from Rs.33,114 crore on 31 March 2020 and a sharp rise from Rs.18,381 crore at the end of March 2019. Further, the plea said that the amount lying with the Investor Education Protection Fund started at Rs.400 crore in 1999, and was 10 times higher at Rs.4,100 crore at the end of March 2020.
The petition stated there is an urgent need to develop a centralized online database under the control of RBI that will provide information about the deceased account holder including such details as the name, address, and last date of transaction by the deceased account holder. Further, it should be mandatory for banks to inform the RBI about inoperative or dormant bank accounts. This exercise should be repeated after an interval of 9-12 months.
The need for a centralized database providing information of deceased account holders also becomes extremely essential when seen in the context of the already existing time-consuming and cumbersome process that legal heirs have to go through while making claims after the death of an individual, the plea filed noted journalist Sucheta Dalal said.
PGurus is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with all the latest news and views
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
- Supreme Court rejects plea to tally all VVPAT slips with EVM votes; says ‘no going back to paper ballot’ - April 26, 2024
- US report citing human rights violations is deeply biased: India - April 25, 2024
- Kotak Mahindra Bank shares tank 13%. Market Cap erodes by Rs.37,721 cr post-RBI action - April 25, 2024
She is a lone warrior like Dr. Swamy