Calcutta High Court allows Mamata Banerjee-led TMC to partially operate its bank accounts

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) to partially operate three of its primary HDFC Bank accounts to meet day-to-day administrative and legal expenses. The accounts, which allegedly hold a combined corpus of Rs 440 crore, were frozen by the Bidhannagar Police last month following an FIR lodged by a rebel faction of the party.

To oversee the process without validating either faction’s claim as the “real” TMC, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya appointed retired High Court judge Justice Subrata Talukdar as a special officer to supervise all financial withdrawals until September 30.

The High Court’s order, however, will not bring any immediate relief to the TMC since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) late Wednesday night notified the freezing of the same three bank accounts of the party, citing a money laundering investigation.

“The TMC has got relief in the case that was at the Bidhannagar cyber crime police station, but not in the ED freezing the accounts case. Therefore, even though the Calcutta High Court has granted partial permission for the use of the accounts, the TMC cannot operate the accounts as the ED has frozen the accounts case. The TMC will have to move the court against the ED order.

The ED had on Wednesday said the three bank accounts belonging to the TMC were freezed following searches in an alleged funds misappropriation case. The ED said that its preliminary probe found that the TMC had invested its own corpus into a private aviation firm to acquire a business jet and a helicopter.

Meanwhile, under the High Court-ordered mechanism, any two authorised signatories from the Mamata Banerjee-led faction can present cheques for essential daily expenditures to Justice Talukdar. Once the special officer verifies the expenses and countersigns the cheques, the bank will process the encashment.

Terms of interim arrangement

Despite strong objections from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the state and argued the police were safeguarding public money, the court allowed legal expenditures to be cleared through these accounts alongside daily operational costs.

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The court laid down the terms for the interim operational window. Justice Subrata Talukdar will supervise operations until September 30, and will receive a monthly honorarium of Rs 1.75 lakh, funded directly from the frozen accounts.

The HDFC Bank management has been directed to meticulously record all electronic transaction data, banking logs, and financial evidence, and fully cooperate with investigative agencies. The High Court clarified that this interim financial arrangement will have absolutely no bearing on the ongoing leadership recognition proceedings before the Election Commission.

The court also directed the Bidhannagar police to submit a comprehensive report on the progress of the investigation before the next hearing on September 21.

Basic running expenses halted

Appearing for the Kalighat TMC, Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that the freeze had completely paralysed the party’s fundamental operations, including its ability to pay routine bills.

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The party submitted a detailed supplementary affidavit outlining due payments, which include salaries for 215 desk employees amounting to Rs 51 lakh, security personnel dues of approximately Rs 5 lakh, vendor expenses for basic office equipment like tables, chairs, and local transit fares, and legal and operational expenses totalling over Rs 1.07 crore.

“Eight accounts have been frozen in total, including interventions by the Enforcement Directorate. How is a political party expected to work? How can the police decide which faction is the real party when the matter is already pending before the Election Commission of India (ECI)?” Singhvi argued.

Court slams police

The single-judge bench pulled up the West Bengal Police for acting with “lightning speed” to freeze the party’s finances, questioning the sudden urgency of the Bidhannagar police cybercrime unit.

The FIR was filed at 6 pm on June 18, and the following day, June 19, the three accounts were quickly debit-frozen, Justice Bhattacharyya noted in his order.

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“Why such lightning speed? When a common person comes with their grievances, the police hardly activate. I do not find any material; prima facie, it is an attempt to freeze the accounts.”

The court also rebuked the rebel faction’s legal counsel, who claimed that they were the “actual TMC” and that the funds were being mismanaged.

Pointing out that the de facto complainants were sitting MLAs who had won elections under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership before forming a breakaway group after May 4, the court noted, “Your conduct doesn’t instil confidence at this stage… The timing; why was the issue not raised before May 4? It is nothing but sheer opportunism.”

“It appears to be an effort in the disguise of freezing the account to claim that you are the original TMC.”