The plea filed through law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas stated that through a notice under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the company’s bank proceeded to freeze the petitioner’s bank account under the pretext of investigation into the first information report (FIR) lodged for cheating case.
It claimed that the police acted without application of mind as Alibaba had no business relationship with the offending entity, Alibaba Cloud India LLP.
In the FIR, the police has alleged that one of the business entities of Alibaba.com namely Alibaba Cloud India LLP, was hosting a download link for a mobile application which was purportedly being used for cheating persons.
The FIR, which was being investigated, was filed based on allegations by an individual who claimed that after being allured by attractive returns, a payment of ₹65,000 was made to the application.
However, the app shut down mid-way and the person with whom the complainant was coordinating, could not be reached.
Three months after the FIR, the police sent a notice under Section 91 to HSBC for freezing of accounts, which was challenged by the company.
As per the freezing notice, HSBC was directed to debit freeze the current accounts of Alibaba.com.
Alibaba.com also apprehended issuance of a letter to freeze another of its accounts in another bank – Citibank India.
In the interim, Alibaba.com has requested restoration of the operation of the frozen account.
Source: Barandbench
