MATTERS WE ARE
INSTRUCTED ON
We are instructed by businesses in banking, cybercrime and regulatory matters arising anywhere in India. Each matter is conducted through advocates enrolled under the Advocates Act, 1961 and practising in the jurisdiction from which the notice, requisition or restraint emanates, and is reported on in writing at every stage.
Cybercrime & Banking Matters
Representation in transaction-related inquiries across multiple jurisdictions
Digital and fintech enterprises are routinely called upon to explain transactions flowing through their platforms when a cybercrime unit in one State issues a requisition to a bank situated in another. A requisition of this nature is not an accusation; it is a statutory demand for records, and the manner in which it is answered materially affects whether the enterprise is thereafter treated as a witness or as a suspect. We assist client entities in construing the requisition, in assembling a chronological and verifiable record of the impugned transactions, and in instructing an enrolled advocate practising before the issuing authority to place that record on file.
Key Areas of Support
- Construction of requisitions issued under Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973)
- Reconstruction of the disputed transaction trail from ledgers, UTR references and settlement records
- Instruction of local counsel practising before the investigating agency in the relevant territorial jurisdiction
- Drafting and tendering of written representations explaining the commercial character of the transactions
- Advice on preservation obligations under Section 67C of the Information Technology Act, 2000
Scope of Coordination
- Centralised intake of the matter and preparation of a chronological transaction matrix
- Engagement of verified local advocates in the jurisdiction from which the requisition emanates
- Tendering of submissions against written acknowledgement and maintenance of the receiving record
- Periodic written briefing to the client entity’s legal and finance functions
Procedural Highlights
Lien Marks & Account Freeze Matters
Applications for release of operating accounts placed under debit freeze or lien
A debit freeze imposed under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, or pursuant to a requisition originating from the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, will ordinarily immobilise the entire balance of an operating account even where the sum in dispute is a fraction of it. The remedy is neither to await the conclusion of the investigation nor to approach the bank, which acts only on the direction it has received. It is to identify the authority at whose instance the lien operates and to apply to that authority, and where necessary to the Magistrate, for release of so much of the balance as is untainted.
Key Areas of Support
- Identification of the authority at whose instance the freeze operates — cyber cell, police station, court or revenue authority
- Procurement of the requisition, FIR or NCRP acknowledgement on which the lien rests
- Preparation of a documented record establishing the lawful source of the credits in question
- Applications under Sections 497 and 503 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for release of property
- Follow-through with the branch and nodal officer until the lien is lifted on the bank’s own records
Scope of Coordination
- Correspondence with the bank’s nodal officer to obtain the particulars of the requisition
- Deployment of local counsel to the district exercising jurisdiction over the freeze
- Prosecution of release applications before the Investigating Officer and the competent Magistrate
- Written status reports on each filing and on the restoration of account operations
Procedural Highlights
Cyber Cell Coordination
Representation before State and Commissionerate cybercrime units
A cybercrime unit conducting an inquiry will ordinarily require subscriber records, access logs, address histories and verification records, and will require them in a form capable of being placed on the case file. Disclosures made informally, or made piecemeal, tend to prolong the inquiry and to invite further requisitions. We settle the disclosure in consultation with the client entity’s technical function, ensure that it answers the requisition as framed, and instruct counsel practising in the district to tender it.
Key Areas of Support
- Representation before State cybercrime units and Commissionerate cyber cells
- Construction of requisitions issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the criminal procedural law
- Settlement of technical and documentary disclosures, including log and subscriber records
- Attendance of the authorised representative of the client entity, in person or by video conferencing, where required
- Advice on intermediary obligations, including the safe-harbour conditions under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000
Scope of Coordination
- Instruction of local counsel in the district in which the inquiry is pending
- Compliance with record-retention requirements under Section 67C of the Information Technology Act, 2000
- Tendering of disclosures to the Investigating Officer against written acknowledgement
- Maintenance of a complete record of the progress of the matter
Procedural Highlights
Police Station Coordination
Attendance and representation at police stations across the country
A summons or notice issued by a police station several States away presents a practical difficulty disproportionate to its legal significance. The record is maintained in the local language, the Investigating Officer is available only at certain hours, and the enterprise is expected to appear or to reply within a short period. We instruct an advocate practising before that station to attend, to inspect the record, to tender a written reply and to obtain a receiving — so that the enterprise answers the notice properly without its officers travelling.
Key Areas of Support
- Attendance before the police station through an enrolled advocate practising in that jurisdiction
- Receipt of, and written reply to, summons and notices issued under the criminal procedural law
- Clarification on the record of the client entity’s role in a dispute between third parties or merchants
- Filing of rejoinders and tendering of documentary material in accordance with law
- Advice on protective remedies — applications for anticipatory bail under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973), and petitions to quash under Section 528 of that Sanhita (formerly Section 482 of the Code) — where the facts warrant it
Scope of Coordination
- Instruction of local counsel in the districts served, ordinarily within twenty-four to forty-eight hours
- Attendance in person by counsel during the proceedings before the Investigating Officer
- A written report on each attendance, transmitted to the client entity the same day
- Drafting and filing of letters recording the client entity’s cooperation
Procedural Highlights
Pan-India Legal Network
A single point of instruction for counsel across the States
An enterprise instructing counsel separately in twenty districts will ordinarily find that it is receiving twenty different standards of reporting, twenty different fee arrangements and no consolidated view of its own exposure. We maintain a panel of advocates across the northern, southern, western, eastern and central regions, instruct them on standard terms, and report to the client entity in a single consistent form.
Key Areas of Support
- A single point of instruction for matters arising anywhere in the country
- Standard terms of engagement, reporting format and fee structure across the panel
- Panel advocates selected for their practice in the relevant local procedure
- Coordinated conduct of connected matters arising in more than one State
- Coverage extending across twenty and more States and Union Territories
Scope of Coordination
- Assessment of the matter and its assignment to counsel in the appropriate jurisdiction
- Central supervision of the conduct of the matter and review of the work product
- Secure retention of the complete matter record in electronic form
- Continued extension of the panel across Tier-1 and Tier-2 jurisdictions
Procedural Highlights
Corporate & Ongoing Legal Support
Standing retainers and continuing coordination across business units
Where notices and requisitions arrive as a matter of course rather than as isolated events, instructing counsel afresh on each occasion is neither economical nor effective. A standing retainer provides the client entity with defined response times, a named coordinator familiar with its business and its recurring exposures, and a consolidated periodic view of every matter then pending.
Key Areas of Support
- Standing retainers for enterprises receiving requisitions as a matter of course
- A named coordinator working to the client entity’s general counsel and risk function
- Monitoring of recurring notices across banking and cyber matters
- Periodic written analysis of exposure and of measures in mitigation
- A channel reserved for matters requiring immediate attention, including debit freezes
Scope of Coordination
- Terms of engagement recording defined response times
- Priority instruction of counsel in any jurisdiction within the country
- Consolidated monthly reporting on all pending matters and on fees incurred
- Quarterly review with the management of the client entity
Procedural Highlights
USDT Wallet Unfreeze & Digital Asset Release
Statutory remedies for the release of frozen USDT holdings and virtual digital assets
Holdings in USDT are immobilised in one of three distinct ways, and the remedy in each differs. An exchange may impose a compliance or risk-control hold on the account; the issuer of the token may blacklist the receiving address at the contract level, ordinarily on a request from a law enforcement agency; or the bank account linked to the trading account may be placed under lien following a complaint registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. The holder most often affected is not an accused at all, but a peer-to-peer seller who has delivered the asset and received, in good faith, rupee funds that are later traced to a complainant. Establishing that position requires a documented evidentiary record rather than correspondence with the exchange. We identify the authority at whose instance the restraint in fact operates, place the record of lawful acquisition before that authority, and pursue the statutory remedies available for release. Representation is undertaken through enrolled advocates and through lawful channels alone; we do not seek to reverse, circumvent or otherwise interfere with a restraint validly imposed by a competent authority, and no view is expressed on the outcome of any application.
Key Areas of Support
- Determination of the source of the restraint — exchange compliance desk, token issuer, investigating agency or adjudicating authority
- Procurement of the FIR, NCRP acknowledgement or requisition on which the restraint rests
- Compilation of the record of lawful acquisition — exchange KYC, peer-to-peer order trail, on-chain transaction hashes, counterparty records and bank statements
- Representations before the Investigating Officer and applications under Sections 497 and 503 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for release of property
- Representation before the Adjudicating Authority and the Appellate Tribunal where property is attached under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002
- Petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution where a restraint is continued without sanction of law
Scope of Coordination
- Reconstruction of the transaction trail on-chain and across the exchange record, and its reconciliation with the bank statement
- Correspondence with the compliance function of the exchange and, where the asset is blacklisted at the contract level, with the issuer through its stated legal channel
- Instruction of local counsel in the district in which the complaint or the lien originates
- Prosecution of release applications before the competent Magistrate and, where attachment is under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002, before the Adjudicating Authority
- Written status reports at each stage until release is effected or the remedy is exhausted
Procedural Highlights
Instructing Us on a Matter
Particulars of the notice, requisition or freeze may be sent to the desk on Telegram. The scope of the engagement and the terms on which counsel are to be instructed are settled in writing before any instruction is accepted.
Instruct Us on Telegram