HC appoints special officer for debit-frozen TMC bank accounts for Mamata-led group's daily expenses

Kolkata, Jul 9 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court on Thursday appointed a special officer to manage the day-to-day expenses of the Mamata Banerjee-aligned TMC from three debit-frozen bank accounts of the party. A complaint was lodged on June 18 before the Cyber Crime Police Station of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, alleging that the three accounts of the TMC in a private bank were repositories of proceeds of crime and the police authorities concerned were requested to take steps. The three accounts were made debit-frozen the next day following the registration of the FIR. Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya appointed retired Calcutta High Court judge Subrata Talukdar as a special officer for running the day-to-day expenses of the Mamata Banerjee-led group till September 30, 2026. Leaders of the other TMC faction, led by party MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, lodged the police complaint that led to the freezing of debit transactions from the three accounts. Justice Bhattacharyya permitted any two authorised signatories of the three bank accounts to present a cheque before the special officer, which will thereafter be presented before the bank authority for encashment. The court clarified that the petitioner is permitted to operate bank accounts for day-to-day expenditures only to run the political party. On a plea by the petitioner, Justice Bhattacharyya permitted transactions to meet legal expenditure of the Mamata Banerjee-aligned TMC and the honorarium of Rs 1.25 lakh per month of the special officer from the three bank accounts till September 30. The court directed the special officer to file a report disclosing the statement of expenditure incurred during the period on the next date of hearing on September 21. The court also asked the bank authority to preserve electronic records and banking data of the three accounts and to cooperate with the ongoing police investigation. The police authority was directed to file a report on the progress of the investigation on the next date of hearing. Noting that the issue of recognition of a faction of the TMC is pending before the Election Commission, the court directed that the commission's decision be brought to the court's notice if it is decided by the poll body, for vacating this interim order. Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the petitioner - the Mamata Banerjee-aligned Trinamool Congress - said that the complainant is part of a faction of the party formed after the declaration of the West Bengal assembly election results on May 4, with the "oblique motive" of crippling a political party. He further stated that the difference in vote share in the assembly poll results between the TMC and the BJP is five per cent. Singhvi contended that the complainants were also beneficiaries of funds from these bank accounts as they got financial support to contest the assembly elections on TMC tickets. The petitioner prayed for a direction upon the police authorities to permit the operation of the three debit-frozen bank accounts. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, representing the police authorities, stated before the court that the investigating agency, on receipt of the complaint, had to take steps expeditiously in order to prevent the petitioner (Mamata Banerjee-aligned faction) from making illegal transactions on those three bank accounts. He stated that the other faction of the party is also seeking recognition as the official group of the TMC and that it is for the Election Commission of India to take a decision on the issue. Senior lawyer Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing the complainant, raised concern that if the petitioner is permitted to operate the accounts, then that would negate the existence of the faction, formed after the election result. He prayed that the police be permitted to continue investigating the matter. The police authority submitted a report in the form of an affidavit before the court on Thursday, stating the circumstances and materials that led to their direction to the bank authority to freeze debit transactions in the three bank accounts. The bank authority had filed a report before the court on Wednesday disclosing the corpus in the three accounts and the names of the authorised signatories in those accounts. The court noted that prima facie, the complaint to the Cyber Crime Police Station appeared omnibus in nature without pinpointing any particular incident or transactions based on which those three accounts were alleged to have been illegally enriched. It further noted that apprehension was expressed in the complaint that if not debit-frozen, the electronic and transaction data of these three bank accounts might be concealed or dissipated. "At this stage, the court is unable to find particular materials which could have been the basis of such abrupt steps," Justice Bhattacharyya observed regarding the debit-freezing of the three bank accounts. The court noted that the complainant was a member of the TMC before the West Bengal assembly election result was declared on May 4 and was elected to the House as a candidate of the same party. It also noted that the petitioner annexed documents in the petition that the complainant was allotted funds from the three bank accounts and utilised that money for the campaign. After being elected, the complainant lodged the complaint on June 18 as part of the faction subsequently formed. Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumdar, also representing the police authority, stated that Rs six crore was transferred to a private entity from one of these accounts a few days before the complaint was lodged. PTI AMR BDC