Supreme Court Refuses to Unfreeze Mamata-Led TMC's Four Bank Accounts, Asks Calcutta HC to Hurry

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress failed to get its money back on Thursday. The Supreme Court declined to entertain the party's challenge to the freezing of four of its bank accounts with Indian Bank, and instead asked the Calcutta High Court to speed up the case already pending before it.

The accounts were debit-frozen by the West Bengal Police following a criminal complaint filed by MLA Biswanath Das, who belongs to the party's rebel camp. With the Calcutta High Court having earlier refused interim relief, the TMC had appealed to the top court.

Why the court stayed out

A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale said it would not go into the merits and was not inclined to use its discretionary appellate powers under Article 136 of the Constitution. The judges noted that the Election Commission has already frozen the party's name and symbol in an interim order, and that the larger question of which faction is entitled to the party's funds is still undecided.

That link is the heart of the matter. The Election Commission's interim order last month barred both the Mamata Banerjee camp and the rival faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee from using the TMC name and its flowers-and-grass symbol until it rules on their competing claims. See our earlier coverage of that order. Until that dispute is settled, the court signalled, it would not decide who should control the bank balances.

The arguments

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the party, argued that the state's police were freezing accounts to choke the political activities of a party they opposed. He said the High Court had wrongly treated these four Indian Bank accounts as the same as three HDFC Bank accounts frozen earlier by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering probe. Those HDFC accounts were later allowed to operate for routine expenses under a court-appointed administrator, an arrangement the Supreme Court left undisturbed in August.

Singhvi told the bench the party needs at least Rs 12.15 crore a month to keep running, over and above day-to-day costs, and that freezing the funds left it paralysed with bypolls approaching. When the bench suggested the court-appointed administrator could also oversee the four accounts, Singhvi agreed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the court to let the Election Commission decide the factional question first. He also told the bench that an aide linked to the party had allegedly deposited about Rs 35 crore in cash into the accounts, and that the matter was under investigation. Singhvi objected, calling the remarks prejudicial and unrelated to the case.

Senior Advocate K Parameshwar, appearing for the complainant, said day-to-day expenses were already permitted under the existing arrangement. The bench declined to pass any further order.

What it means

For now, the party remains cut off from these four accounts while it fights a two-front battle: before the Election Commission over its name and symbol, and before the Calcutta High Court over its money. The Supreme Court's request that the High Court expedite the case offers some hope of a quicker hearing, but no immediate relief.

The timing is awkward for the party. Assembly bypolls in West Bengal, including in the politically symbolic Nandigram seat, are due on October 6, and both factions are already campaigning without the familiar TMC brand. Access to funds now joins the list of practical problems the Mamata Banerjee camp must solve in the days before voting.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.