New Delhi: Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre and others on a petition seeking to create a centralized database providing information about the unclaimed amount of Rs 40,000 crore belonging to dead investors and account holders. A bench comprising Justices Abdul Nazeer and JK Maheshwari asked the Centre, Reserve Bank of India, SEBI, and others to file their reply to the petition filed by journalist Sucheta Dalal.
The petitioner’s counsel Prashant Bhushan sought direction from the government to establish a procedure to deal with claims of legal heirs to eliminate unnecessary litigation. The petitioner claimed that the Depositors ‘ Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) had Rs 39,264.25 crore at the end of March 2021 and stressed the need to develop a centralized online database under the control of RBI to provide information about the deceased account holder. The petitioner also contended that it should be mandatory for banks to inform RBI about inoperative or dormant bank accounts.
