The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) faction on Thursday. The Court dismissed the TMC’s plea seeking permission to operate four of its bank accounts that had been frozen. Consequently, the Court refused to interfere with the Calcutta High Court’s earlier order rejecting this request.
During the hearing, the bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice P.B. Varale observed that since the Election Commission has frozen the party’s election symbol and the question of who is the rightful claimant to the funds in the accounts remains sub judice, they would not delve into the merits of the case. The Court asked the Calcutta High Court to expedite the hearing.
The Supreme Court stated that it did not wish to examine the merits of the case or exercise its powers under Article 136. It requested the Calcutta High Court to fast-track the proceedings.
Here is an overview of the entire matter: The TMC had sought permission to operate four of its accounts held in public sector banks, which had been frozen by the West Bengal Police. The party argued that there were procedural flaws in the FIRs linked to the freezing of these accounts.
On August 27, the Calcutta High Court had refused to grant permission to operate these four accounts, which hold approximately ₹804 crore. The Court held that granting such relief would undermine its previous order, which had permitted the party to meet only its day-to-day expenses. ED Action and Money Laundering Allegations
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating money laundering in this case. The ED alleges that party funds amounting to ₹160 crore were misappropriated through the Kolkata-based ‘Carewell Aviation’. As part of this investigation, the ED has frozen ₹440 crore held in three TMC accounts with HDFC Bank.
