A 2-judge bench of the Supreme Court — *Dr D.Y. Chandrachud, C.J.* and *Hima Kohli, J.* — held in March 2023 that the principle of audi alteram partem must be read into Clauses 8.9.4 and 8.9.5 of the *Reserve Bank of India (Frauds Classification and Reporting by Commercial Banks and Select FIs) Directions 2016*. Classification of a borrower's account as 'fraud' by a Joint Lenders' Forum carries the consequences of civil death — credit-access debarment, reputational harm, director-disqualification fallout — and engages Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21. The borrower is entitled to notice, to supply of the forensic audit report (or its conclusions), to an opportunity to be heard and to a reasoned order before classification. No prior hearing is required before the lodging of an FIR under *Section 154* of the *Code of Criminal Procedure*, which is a separate criminal-law step.