PALLABH BHOWMICK Vs. OMBUDSMAN, RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. Pallab Bhowmick, the writ petitioner appearing in person. I have also heard Mr. A. Parvez, learned Standing Counsel, State Bank of India (SBI), appearing on behalf of the respondent no. 2 and Mr. D. Nath, learned Senior Government Advocate, Assam, appearing on behalf of the respondent no. 5. None has appeared for the other respondents.

(2.) By filing this writ petition, the petitioner, who is an Advocate practicing before this court, has primarily assailed the order dtd. 07/03/2022 (Annexure-11) issued by the respondent no. 1 i.e. the Ombudsman, Reserve Bank of India, Guwahati, rejecting the complaint made by the petitioner pertaining to the claim of refund of the fraudulent transactions of Rs.94,204.00 made from his bank account on 18/10/2021.

(3.) The brief facts of the case, as projected through the pleadings, are that the petitioner is holding a Savings Bank (SB) Account bearing No. 10823993373 with the State Bank of India(SBI), Guwahati Branch. The petitioner had made a online purchase of some garment from the "Louis Philippe" store which he wanted to return and get the money back. On 18/10/2021, the petitioner had received a call from a fraudster, who was later identified as the respondent no. 4 viz Papendra Kumar from the State of Uttar Pradesh. Posing himself to be the customer care manager of the famous brand "Louis Philippe" i.e. the respondent no. 3, the fraudster had asked the petitioner to download a 'mobile app' for the purpose of making a refund of Rs.4000.00 in lieu of return of a garment earlier purchased by him. Bonafide believing that the call was from the customer care department of "Louis Philippe" the petitioner had downloaded the 'mobile app'. Soon thereafter, a sum of Rs.94,204.00 was siphoned off from the bank account of the petitioner by three separate online transactions. An amount of Rs.64,017.00 was transferred from the bank account of the petitioner by Payment Gateway (PG) transactions. Immediately thereafter, two other transactions took place for the amounts of Rs.15,093.00 each. As per the averments made in the writ petition, the aforesaid fraudulent transactions took place on 18/10/2021 through mobile phones bearing numbers +91 7789956974 and +91 9188762299. The amounts were initially transferred to the beneficiary account in the Federal Bank and thereafter, shifted to other bank accounts.