The Calcutta High Court sought a detailed report on funds in frozen TMC bank accounts while questioning the speed of the West Bengal Police’s action. The Court observed that the accounts were frozen immediately after the FIR, raising concerns over the apparent haste of authorities.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday sought a detailed report on the funds lying in the frozen bank accounts of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), while raising concerns over the speed with which the West Bengal Police acted to freeze the accounts following the registration of a criminal complaint.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharya, hearing a petition filed by the TMC challenging the debit freeze imposed on its bank accounts, observed that the sequence of events appeared unusually swift and warranted closer scrutiny.
Justice Bhattacharya remarked,
“FIR was registered at 18:00 hours, and next day bank is writing to petitioner (TMC) that accounts are debit freezed (sic). It is passing through the mind of the court that, in hot haste, why this entire thing was done?”
ALSO READ: Bank Account Freeze Case: Calcutta High Court Refuses Urgent Hearing On TMC’s Plea
The accounts were frozen by the Bidhannagar Police following allegations that funds belonging to the political party had been siphoned off. The complaint triggering the investigation was lodged by rebel TMC MLA Biswanath Das, who accused party functionaries of financial irregularities and diversion of funds.
During the hearing, the High Court explored the possibility of permitting the party to operate its bank accounts under judicial supervision while the police investigation continues.
Justice Bhattacharya suggested that retired High Court judges could be appointed as Special Officers to oversee the accounts and ensure that they are used only for routine operational expenses and not for major financial transactions.
The Court indicated that such an arrangement could strike a balance between allowing the investigation to proceed and ensuring that the functioning of a recognised political party is not brought to a standstill. However, no interim order was passed at this stage.
Appearing for the West Bengal Police, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the Court not to pass any interim directions immediately. He sought additional time to place before the Court the material collected during the investigation, submitting that the evidence gathered could significantly alter the Court’s perception of the matter.
Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for rebel MLA Biswanath Das, supported the State’s request. Kaul also questioned the maintainability of the writ petition itself, arguing that the Court must first determine whether the petition had actually been filed on behalf of the legitimate Trinamool Congress, particularly in light of the ongoing internal factional disputes within the party.
Senior Advocates Kishore Datta and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the TMC, strongly opposed the police action and sought immediate interim relief. The party argued that freezing its operational bank accounts had effectively paralysed its day-to-day functioning and amounted to an abuse of investigative powers.
Datta contended that the police had exceeded the scope of their powers under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which governs seizure of property during criminal investigations.
Singhvi argued that the issue went far beyond a routine investigation and raised serious constitutional concerns regarding democracy and political competition.
Singhvi asked,
“Larger consideration is this. Issue is where a level playing field and political parties and political associations are the basis of democracy – can a friendly police force paralyse a running party by freezing its lifeline or funds and rendering a field non-level?”
The senior counsel maintained that depriving a political party of access to its funds could seriously impact its organisational activities and electoral functioning.
During the proceedings, Justice Bhattacharya repeatedly expressed concern over the sequence in which the investigation unfolded.
Justice Bhattacharya remarked,
“What is troubling this court, Mr Mehta, this complaint was lodged on June 18, 2026. See the timing. Complaint on June 18 – you will find majority of the complaint is omnibus in nature. There is no specific incident, not any organisation, person indicated as accused,”
The Court appeared to question whether the police had undertaken any meaningful preliminary verification before directing banks to freeze the party’s accounts.
While the Court acknowledged the concerns raised by the petitioner, it declined to immediately order the de-freezing of the accounts.
Instead, Justice Bhattacharya directed the authorities to submit a report disclosing the total corpus and balances lying in the frozen accounts by July 7. The matter has now been listed for further hearing on July 8.
Background of the Dispute
The controversy comes at a time when the Trinamool Congress is facing internal political divisions following its recent defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections. The police action was initiated after rebel TMC MLA Biswanath Das lodged a complaint alleging large-scale diversion and misappropriation of party funds. The TMC has challenged the complaint as politically motivated and devoid of material particulars.
According to the party, Das himself contested and won the recent Assembly election from the Jaynagar constituency on a TMC ticket and had received Rs 25 lakh from the very bank accounts that are now alleged to have been used for financial irregularities.
“This shows the completely baseless, mala fide and motivated nature of the complaint,” the TMC stated in its petition before the High Court.
The party has further alleged that the police froze its bank accounts without conducting any preliminary inquiry into the allegations, resulting in severe disruption of its organisational and financial activities.
The High Court will now consider the State’s report and the investigation material before deciding whether any interim relief, including supervised operation or de-freezing of the accounts, should be granted.
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE