Under BNSS Section 106, police may freeze bank accounts linked to cybercrime complaints filed via the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal without prior judicial approval. Freezes take two forms: debit freeze, which blocks outflows while allowing credits, and lien marking, which reserves a specific sum. Layered transactions — where fraud proceeds pass through multiple mule accounts — mean innocent third-party holders often face freezes. Courts have increasingly scrutinised such orders, requiring prompt judicial oversight and providing remedies through magistrate-level review.

BNSS Section 106 (replacing CrPC Section 102) empowers any police officer to seize or freeze property, including bank accounts, where the officer has reason to believe it represents proceeds of an offence or is relevant to an investigation. No prior magistrate order is required; however, the officer must report the seizure to the jurisdictional magistrate within 24 hours. This is the critical procedural safeguard — failure to comply renders the freeze legally vulnerable.

In cybercrime cases, complaints flow through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) at cybercrime.gov.in. Once a complaint is registered, the cybercrime unit coordinates with banks to freeze accounts suspected of receiving fraudulent transfers. The freeze operates at two intensities: a debit freeze (credits allowed, debits blocked) or a lien on a specific amount.

The constitutional tension arises when innocent account holders — typically mule account recipients who received diverted funds unknowingly — find their accounts frozen without notice. Courts have held that the right to livelihood (Article 21) and property (Article 300A) impose an obligation on the State to provide a swift, accessible remedy. The magistrate before whom the seizure is reported is competent to pass directions for release or modification of the freeze.

For CLAT PG, the examiner's interest is in the distinction between the police's power to freeze (executive, no prior judicial approval needed) and the mandatory post-freeze judicial reporting (within 24 hours), and the remedies available to aggrieved innocent holders.