How did you open customer’s locker without consent? U’khand HC to bank

How did you open customer’s locker without consent? U’khand HC to bank

Pankul.Sharma@timesofindia.com 16.04.2025

Dehradun : Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday asked a public sector bank to clarify which rules permit its officials to break open a customer’s locker without consent. It came after a complaint by an 86-year-old woman, Sushila Devi, who said her locker at the Bank of Baroda’s main branch in Dehradun was opened and jewellery removed in her absence in 2022. Her son, Anoop Kumar, said, “My mother kept 730 grams of gold and 950 grams of silver jewellery in the locker. Despite filing an FIR, police have not taken any action.” Kumar, the coholder, visited the bank in 2024 and discovered the locker had already been forced open. 

When he enquired about the contents, bank officials failed to give a satisfactory explanation, prompting him to file an FIR against them. Subsequently, an employee from the bank approached the court seeking to quash the FIR. His counsel said the locker was opened after multiple notices went unanswered, and that an inventory of contents was prepared and sealed at the head office. 

However, Kumar said they never received any such communication from the bank. “When I asked bank officials, they said the documents have been misplaced,” he told TOI. Kumar added that the jewellery included 21 ornaments “of high sentimental value”, some dating back to 1875. An FIR was registered in Jan this year at Dalanwala police station, alleging robbery by the concerned bank officials. During the hearing, justice Pankaj Purohit asked the bank staff ’s counsel to present the rules authorising forcible opening of locker and explain how the valuables would be returned to the complainant