The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has registered a case against the manager of a public sector bank in the city for his alleged reluctance to release to the wife of a deceased man the money in the savings account of the man, citing unwanted formalities. The case was registered on the basis of a petition submitted by E.K. Geethabhai against the State Bank of India’s Kannur road branch manager.
Commission member K. Baijunath, who considered the petition, found that the woman had been after the bank authorities with the required legal documents for over a year to get the balance amount released. The bank authorities were allegedly withholding it after asking her to produce two guarantors with a bank balance of ₹40 lakh each. According to Mr. Baijunath, the bank had no right to ask for such additional documents even after the verification of the other legally required documents. The woman, in her petition, accused the bank authorities of denying the service after the submission of the legal heir documents and the death certificate of her husband, who passed away on October 2, 2020. She also complained that the bank authorities had hurt her self-esteem with their insistence on unwanted documents and forcing her to roam around for claiming the savings fund in her husband’s account.
After registering the case, the panel also asked the bank authorities to submit their explanation in two weeks. The SBI’s regional manager was also directed to tender his explanation to avoid further legal action.
