Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ordered the defreezing of six bank accounts belonging to Prosperous Gold and Silver Trading Academy and its proprietor, 42-year-old Pankaj Ramakant Narvankar. The court passed the order following Narvankar’s undertaking to the court to reimburse investors who were allegedly defrauded of Rs 10 crore.

A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan allowed the petition filed by the company, through Narvankar, that sought the release of accounts held in Indian Overseas Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, DCB Bank, and Saraswat Bank.

The case involves 422 investors who collectively deposited Rs10 crore, funds currently held in share trading accounts linked to the bank accounts frozen by the police in connection with a case registered at Rabodi Police Station in Thane.

The court noted in its order that the company’s accounts hold Rs 17 lakh in Indian Overseas Bank, Rs 3 lakh and a Rs 1.5 crore fixed deposit in Yes Bank, and Rs 80,000 along with a Rs 27 lakh fixed deposit in IndusInd Bank. Narvankar’s personal accounts contain Rs 1,000 in DCB Bank, Rs 50,000 in Saraswat Bank, and Rs 5,000 in Yes Bank.

To show his “bona fide”, Narvankar filed an affidavit emphasising his commitment to safeguarding investor interests, stating that all funds would be used exclusively for investor benefits and not for personal use. He highlighted that investors had been receiving timely payouts until the accounts were frozen and expressed concern that continued restrictions would hinder his ability to fulfill investor obligations.

“Even after the Impugned action of freezing the accounts, I did my best to pay the Investors at my level best. Hence, If the bank accounts are not defreezed, I may not (be able to) pay the Investors..” affidavit read.

State’s advocate Prajakta Shinde informed the court that the initial complaint involved a sum of Rs1 lakh. While acknowledging the potential for additional complaints, the police did not oppose the defreezing, provided that a fixed deposit of Rs 1.5 crore in Yes Bank remained untouched.

Narvankar’s advocates Tushar Sonawane and Pooja Satpute provided the proprietor’s undertaking to the court, assuring that he would not access the funds in the Yes Bank fixed deposit. He also committed to consolidating investor funds into a single account, dedicated solely to disbursing profits to investors, and pledged not to use these funds for personal gain.

“Considering that the petitioner has undertaken not to touch the fixed deposit amount lying in the Yes Bank i.e. ₹1,50,00,000/-, in addition to ₹3,00,000/- lying in Yes Bank Account, there is no impediment in allowing this petition,” a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan said. Consequently, the bench ordered the defreezing of the specified bank accounts.