New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India why details of the bank accounts of deceased persons could not be disclosed to heirs, and said the government must come up with a policy on the issue.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a PIL filed by journalist Sucheta Dalal, seeking a direction to set up a mechanism to inform the legal heirs of deceased depositors about the unclaimed deposits lying dormant in bank accounts.

"Suppose a man has got 10 different accounts in different countries, he dies intestate, how do his heirs get the details? He may not have done the KYC...

"It's not a question of policy; we are not saying that the transfer is illegal. What we are saying is, what is wrong if we give the information to the legal heirs? You will have to come out with some policy," the bench remarked.

During the hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Dalal, submitted that the petitioner has sought directions for making the details of such unclaimed accounts public.

He said the RBI had also recommended the need to have a "Centralised and Searchable Database" so that people can trace the accounts of their deceased parents.

Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, appearing for the Centre, said if a genuine heir comes forward, the amount is refunded to them from the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund.

The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund, established by the RBI in 2014, holds unclaimed deposits from commercial and co-operative banks.

The top court asked the Centre and the RBI to file fresh affidavits in the matter and posted the matter for hearing on May 5.

The apex court had earlier asked the Finance Ministry to file its response to the PIL seeking directions to create a centralised database providing information about bank accounts, insurance, deposits and post office funds lying in accounts held by those who are no longer alive.

The plea has also sought a direction to establish a procedure that eliminates unnecessary litigation while dealing with claims of legal heirs qua bank deposits, insurance, post office funds, etc.

The plea said that the Depositors’ Education and Awareness Fund had Rs 39,264.25 crore at the end of March 2021, up from Rs 33,114 crore on 31 March 2020 and a sharp rise from Rs 18,381 crore at the end of March 2019.

The petition stated there is an urgent need to develop a centralised online database under the control of RBI that will provide information about the deceased account holder, including such details as the name, address and last date of transaction by the deceased account holder. PTI PKS RT