SARWAR RAZA vs OMBUDSMAN RESERVE BANK OF INDIA & ANR.

Judgment text excerpt

$~J1 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Reserved on: 25th July, 2025 Pronounced on: 27th November, 2025. Uploaded on: 27th November, 2025 + W.P.(C) 16659/2022 & CM APPL. 52510/2022 SARWAR RAZA .....Petitioner Through: Petitioner in person. versus OMBUDSMAN RESERVE BANK OF INDIA & ANR. ....Respondents Through: Mr. Ramesh Babu along with Mr. Rohan Srivastava, Ms. Jagriti Bharti and Ms. Tanya Chowdhary, Advs. for RBI. (M: 9873922734) Mr. Sanjeev Sindhwani, Sr. Adv. with Ms. Suruchi Suri, Advs. for R-2. (M: 9810255518) CORAM: JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUDGMENT Prathiba M. Singh, J. 1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND 2. The long and arduous journey that a credit card holder has to undergo, when any fraudulent transactions take place on a credit card, is at the crux of this petition. 3. It is a matter of common knowledge that the increased use of various instruments for undertaking monetary transactions, such as – credit cards, W.P.(C) 16659/2022 Page 1 of 23 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:27.11.2025 16:50:59 debit cards and digital payment platforms also raises the possibility of misuse and resultant frauds. 4. The background giving rise to this case is that in January 2022, the Petitioner, who is also a practicing advocate in Delhi, was issued a credit card ending with xxxx xxxx xxxx 6173 (hereinafter, ‘credit card No.1’), which was issued by Respondent No.2 -Citibank (hereinafter, ‘the Bank’), 5. On 5th April, 2022, a new credit card was issued to the Petitioner by the Bank, ending with xxxx xxxx xxxx 9319 (hereinafter, ‘credit card No.2’). According to the Petitioner, credit card No. 2 was issued to the Petitioner without any request made from his side. 6. It is the case of the Petitione