SC dismisses TMC plea on frozen bank accounts

The Supreme Court dismissed a plea by the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction to operate four debit-frozen bank accounts with public sector banks. A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale said it was not inclined to interfere with the Calcutta HC order which refused to allow plea.

The top court noted that the Election Commission has frozen the symbol and therefore the larger issue as to who is entitled to the amount is pending adjudication.
“We refrain from going into the merits. We are not inclined to exercise our jurisdiction under Article 136. We request the high court to expedite the hearing,” the bench said.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for TMC faction by Banerjee, submitted that the state police has frozen bank accounts because it is opposed to party and wants to stop its political activities.
Singhvi said the party required a minimum of `12.15 crore per month for sustaining its operations and expenses. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed Singhvi’s plea and contended that there was a  factional dispute in which one side claimed to be real TMC.

He told the court that a complaint was made that a PA of the Banerjee faction of the TMC had allegedly deposited `35 crore through cash into those accounts.There was an investigation under progress in this regard, Mehta said.
The top court noted Mehta’s submission and dismissed the plea. The Calcutta HC on August 27 had refused to pass an interim order allowing the Mamata Banerjee-led faction to operate four debit-frozen bank accounts holding around `804 crore, observing that granting relief would undermine its earlier order permitting party to meet day-to-day expenses.

The TMC had sought permission to operate four accounts with public sector banks that were debit-frozen by the West Bengal Police, claiming there were lacunae in the FIRs related to the freezing.