The Supreme Court on Monday urged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to consider releasing some money from three debit-frozen bank accounts of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), observing that the Mamata Banerjee-led party would require funds for its day-to-day functioning and legal expenses even as the legality of the freezing order remains under challenge.
A bench of justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale asked the central agency to obtain instructions and revert after a week, while clarifying that it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the dispute, which is pending before the Calcutta High Court.
“We have suggested both sides that some amount can be released for the administrator for daily expenses and some other necessary expenses. We clarify that we have not dealt with the merit of the case since the matter is pending before the Calcutta high court,” said the bench, listing the matter next week.
The observations came during the hearing of the TMC’s appeal against a July 20 Calcutta high court order refusing interim relief against the ED’s decision to freeze three HDFC Bank accounts of the party as part of a money laundering probe.
Appearing for the TMC, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Menaka Guruswamy submitted that the party had been left “completely stifled monetarily”, contending that it had no funds to pay salaries, legal expenses or meet routine organisational expenditure because of the freezing order.
Questioning the ED’s stand, the bench asked: “It looks very vague. What are the proceeds of crime you are talking about?” It also sought to know the basis on which the agency had frozen the entire amount lying in the accounts.
Additional solicitor general SV Raju, appearing for the ED, responded that the freezing order had been passed before the administrator was appointed. He further argued that the TMC operated several other bank accounts and was not entirely without funds.
The bench, however, indicated that the agency could consider allowing access to a limited amount through the court-appointed administrator to meet essential expenses, including the party’s legal costs.
The dispute arises out of an ED investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) into alleged diversion of party funds. The agency claims that around ₹133.84 crore was transferred from one of the TMC’s bank accounts to Carewell Aviation India Pvt Ltd as part of suspicious financial transactions. During searches conducted in July, the ED froze six bank accounts, including three HDFC Bank accounts belonging to the party, stating that the three accounts together contained around ₹440 crore.
The TMC has maintained that the freezing action was arbitrary and unsupported by any identifiable proceeds of crime. It has also relied on an earlier Calcutta HC order appointing retired judge Justice Subrata Talukdar as special officer to supervise the accounts and permit withdrawals for day-to-day expenses and legal costs.
However, on July 20, the high court declined TMC’s plea to grant it interim permission to operate the accounts, holding that the legality of the alleged fund transfers could not be examined at the interim stage and that the party could raise its objections before the PMLA adjudicating authority and during the writ proceedings after pleadings were completed.
