When an account holder lies in a coma, the family’s need for money does not wait. The Allahabad High Court has asked the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India whether law or guidelines can open the bank savings of coma patients to their dependants in an emergency.
Prayagraj: Families can be left with nothing for hospital bills and household needs, the Allahabad High Court noted, as it asked the Union Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to state on affidavit whether legislation or regulatory guidelines can create a mechanism for the dependants of a patient in coma to access the patient’s savings bank account [Parveen Jahan v. State of U.P. and Others].
Parveen Jahan filed the petition, which was heard by a Bench of Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Garima Prasad. The account holder was in a coma when it was filed and has since died. The matter returns on November 6.
What the Centre and the RBI must file
Both the Union Government and the RBI are to file affidavits setting out their positions, including any proposal or guideline for such urgent situations. The petitioner has to implead the RBI through its Executive Director (Banking Regulation) and the Union of India through the Secretary, Ministry of Finance. If the RBI does not file its affidavit, the Court indicated, it may summon the responsible officers.
The State’s turn
As for the State, the Uttar Pradesh Government was asked to consider the guidelines laid down by the Kerala High Court in Shobha Gopalakrishnan v. State of Kerala. The Chief Secretary is to propose a concrete and substantial solution at the State level, and must appear in person on the next date if none is forthcoming. On the facts of this case, the petitioner was told she may apply for succession to obtain the money in the deceased account holder’s savings account.
A gap the statutes do not obviously fill
The petition raises the question of what a family can do about an adult’s savings when the account holder cannot give instructions because of a coma, a point on which the statutes are not clearly equipped to help.
The Court referred to its earlier judgment in Uma Mittal and Others v. Union of India and Others, in which, in 2020, it issued temporary guidelines for appointing guardians of persons in a comatose state and recommended that the Centre enact a law on the subject. Guardianship is a separate court process, however, and the present order is directed at the narrower and more urgent question of how dependants can reach the patient’s savings for treatment and household costs.
Case Title: Parveen Jahan v. State of U.P. and Others
Bench: Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Garima Prasad, Allahabad High Court
Next Hearing: November 6, 2026