Supreme Court issues notice on Sucheta Dalal’s PIL on unclaimed funds in dormant accounts

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a plea filed by journalist Sucheta Dalal. The plea sought to ensure that information on money held by investors and depositors in dormant or inoperative accounts be made publicly available on a centralised platform.

A bench of justices Abdul Nazeer and JK Maheshwari observed that it was a “very important issue", Live Law reported.

Dalal’s plea said funds unclaimed by legal heirs are transferred to government-owned funds through the Depositor's Education and Awareness Fund, Investor's Education and Protection Fund, and the Senior Citizen's Welfare Fund. According to Live Law, the plea said these funds “should be made available to said legal heirs/nominees by providing information of holders of inoperative/dormant accounts on a centralised online database”.

The petition said “deposits of over Rs 4,000 crore are lying unclaimed since the legal heirs are either untraced or unknown”.

Respondents in the petition include the finance ministry, corporate affairs ministry, the RBI, and SEBI. Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for Dalal.