# Calcutta HC raps HDFC for blocking Abhishek Banerjee’s account 2026-08-24T05:43:07+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets The Calcutta High Court on Monday disposed of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee's plea after HDFC Bank told the court it had reactivated his bank account, which was blocked on August 10 pending additional due diligence. Justice Krishna Rao heard the matter. Senior Advocate Ayan Bhattacharjee, appearing for Banerjee, sought nominal costs for the unilateral restriction, but the court disposed the petition after the bank confirmed reactivation. HDFC Bank's counsel submitted that the blocking originated from the bank's Central Vigilance Team and gave no assurance that similar action would not be taken again. Banerjee's account was frozen on the same day the Supreme Court permitted him to travel abroad for eye treatment. Bar&Bench reports the court asked HDFC, 'Is this how you deal with customers?' LiveLaw notes the bank cited its internal vigilance process. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both Bar&Bench and LiveLaw report the same outcome, account reactivated, plea disposed, but frame the story from opposite ends of the timeline. Bar&Bench leads with the High Court's stinging oral observation ('Is this how you deal with customers?'), foregrounding judicial anger over HDFC's unilateral blocking of Abhishek Banerjee's account on the very day the Supreme Court allowed him travel for medical treatment. LiveLaw, in contrast, focuses on the disposal order and the bank's caveat that 'similar action' could recur, thereby normalising the bank's internal vigilance process. Bar&Bench’s narrative is government-critical indirectly: a ruling party MP publicly embarrassed by a private bank. LiveLaw’s is neutral-report but leaves a tension unresolved, the bank gave no assurance against repeat blocking. The measured takeaway: the court accepted the reactivation without imposing costs, leaving the underlying due-diligence dispute unadjudicated. All eyes are now on whether Banerjee pursues a separate remedy or the bank's vigilance team triggers another freeze. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 1 government-critical, 1 neutral - barandbench.com (government critical) Leads with court's oral rebuke, frames bank action as arbitrary, omits bank's vigilance rationale - livelaw.in (neutral report) Leads with disposal, includes bank's defence of central vigilance team and no-assurance caveat This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-24T10:06:47+00:00. Tags: Abhishek Banerjee, Calcutta High Court, HDFC Bank, Trinamool Congress Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/calcutta-hc-questions-hdfc-over-blocking-abhishek-banerjees-account/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/calcutta-hc-questions-hdfc-over-blocking-abhishek-banerjees-account/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/