A district and sessions judge at the Kamrup Metropolitan District and Sessions Court in Guwahati ordered the unfreezing of bank accounts and credit cards belonging to accused Shyamkanu Mahanta on Monday, after sharply criticising investigative authorities for failing to adhere to mandatory procedural safeguards under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The ruling, delivered amid ongoing proceedings in the high-profile death investigation of acclaimed singer and cultural icon Zubeen Garg, underscores judicial insistence on strict compliance with statutory provisions even in matters involving significant criminal allegations. Mahanta, a prominent cultural organiser and founder of major regional festivals, is among several defendants in the case that has gripped public attention since Garg’s fatal drowning in Singapore in September 2025, where investigators and the coroner’s inquiry examined the circumstances of his death. The charge sheet in the case was filed by a Special Investigation Team of the Assam Police’s CID in December, implicating Mahanta and other figures, including Siddharth Sharma, Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, Amritprabha Mahanta, Sandipan Garg and others on a range of allegations from criminal negligence to more serious charges.
In granting Mahanta’s petition to restore access to his financial accounts, the judge noted that the prosecution had failed to report the freezing of the accounts to the jurisdictional magistrate and had not obtained the necessary prior approval under Section 107 of the BNSS, requirements that are designed to protect against excessive or unlawful financial restrictions during an investigation. The prosecution’s argument that the lapses were merely “technical” did not sway the court’s view that due process was essential.
The defence had argued that there was no evidence of proceeds of crime entering or being transacted through the accounts in question, and that prolonged freezing had caused undue hardship to Mahanta and his family. The accounts affected spanned multiple prominent banks and included personal savings as well as credit facilities. The court agreed that without proper procedural compliance, such restrictions could not lawfully stand.
Alongside the financial ruling, the court addressed pleas connected to other elements of the sprawling case. A defence request to access documents described as the “Singapore files” was rejected, with the bench clarifying that materials acquired by foreign authorities do not automatically fall within India’s criminal procedure framework absent proper legal channels; it noted that materials gathered within the state had already been made available to the defence.
Another significant directive left in place the attachment of a residential flat belonging to co-accused Siddharth Sharma. The court ruled that the property, alleged by investigators to have been acquired with funds misappropriated from Garg, would remain sealed unless Sharma deposits a bank demand draft of Rs 16 lakh with the CID police station. Investigators maintain that this amount reflects money diverted while managing Garg’s affairs.
The court also set procedural timelines for the next stages of the case, with remand and charge hearings scheduled across mid-March. These dates represent key procedural benchmarks as the prosecution moves toward formal framing of charges against multiple defendants and seeks to advance the trial phase of what has been one of the most closely followed criminal matters in the region.
Family members of Zubeen Garg expressed their disappointment with the order to unfreeze Mahanta’s accounts, characterising the development as “unfortunate” and attributing it to procedural shortcomings in the investigation rather than merits of the allegations. Garima Saikia Garg, the singer’s wife, noted that similar judicial relief had been granted in earlier proceedings involving business assets tied to Sharma, and urged authorities to exercise greater diligence to prevent procedural lapses that could delay justice.