The Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress has approached the Calcutta High Court seeking access to funds from the party’s frozen bank accounts ahead of the Durga Puja, citing the need to meet staff salaries, rent and other routine expenses.
The plea relates to three bank accounts whose operations were earlier restricted following a police complaint and subsequent investigation. In July, the High Court had permitted limited withdrawals from the accounts for day-to-day party functioning and legal expenses under the supervision of retired Justice Subrata Talukdar, appointed as a special officer.
The Mamata-led faction has now told the court that funds are not being released by the special officer’s committee, leaving payments such as employee salaries and office rent pending ahead of the festive season.
The party sought an urgent hearing of its petition, but Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya declined the request. The matter is expected to be taken up after the Puja vacation.
Dispute over party name and symbol
The latest plea comes against the backdrop of an ongoing dispute over the Trinamool Congress’ organisational identity and control of its funds. The Election Commission has issued an interim direction concerning the party’s name and the twin-flower symbol in connection with upcoming bypolls.
The Mamata faction has argued that the Election Commission’s order is interim in nature and has not finally determined the ownership or recognition of the rival groups. The High Court had earlier taken a similar view, holding that the interim poll panel order did not by itself bring the court’s earlier arrangement regarding the bank accounts to an end.
The state, however, had argued that the petition was no longer maintainable because the Election Commission had frozen the use of the Trinamool Congress’ name and symbol. Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumdar contended that the case had been filed in the name of a political organisation that, under the interim EC order, could not presently use that identity.
Court-monitored operation of accounts
The three accounts, which reportedly contain substantial party funds, were debit-frozen following complaints alleging irregularities in their operation. The High Court subsequently allowed limited access to the accounts, while placing their operation under judicial supervision.
Under the arrangement, authorised signatories can issue cheques, but transactions have to be cleared and countersigned by the special officer. The court had restricted the use of the money to routine party expenditure and legal expenses and ruled that no other major or minor expenditure could be permitted without the officer’s approval.
The High Court had also directed that expenditure details be placed before it, keeping the arrangement subject to further orders and developments in the Election Commission proceedings.
