The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted interim relief to All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) by permitting it to operate its three frozen bank accounts under the supervision of a court-appointed Special Officer.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya clarified that the accounts can be used only for meeting the party’s day-to-day administrative expenses and legal expenditure. No other payments, whether major or minor, shall be permitted, it added.
The High Court appointed retired judge Justice Subrata Talukdar as the Special Officer till September 30 to oversee the operation of the bank accounts, which had been frozen by the West Bengal Police pursuant to a complaint lodged by rebel TMC MLA Biswanath Das alleging diversion and misuse of party funds.
Passing the interim order, the Court observed that appointing a Special Officer would strike a balance between the competing concerns raised by the parties. While the petitioner sought access to the accounts to ensure the smooth functioning of the political party, the complainant expressed apprehension that permitting unrestricted operation of the accounts could result in tampering with material evidence relevant to the investigation.
Accordingly, the Court directed that any two authorised signatories of the three bank accounts shall submit cheques to the Special Officer whenever funds are required for day-to-day expenses or legal costs. The Special Officer will countersign the cheques before they are presented to the concerned bank for encashment, thereby ensuring judicial supervision over all withdrawals.
The Court further directed that Justice Talukdar shall be paid an honorarium of Rs. 1.25 lakh per month, which may be disbursed from the funds lying in the frozen bank accounts.
The accounts were frozen by the Bidhannagar Police after registration of a First Information Report (FIR) based on a complaint filed by Das, who alleged diversion and misappropriation of party funds. The TMC challenged the action, contending that the complaint was baseless, mala fide and politically motivated, and argued that the freezing of the accounts had severely disrupted its organisational and administrative functioning.
During the hearing, the Court made a prima facie observation that the complaint appeared to be omnibus in nature and lacked specific allegations regarding any identifiable transaction or instance of financial irregularity. The Court also expressed concern over the speed with which the police initiated criminal proceedings and froze the accounts.
The Court noted that the FIR had been registered at around 6:00 pm on June 18 and the three bank accounts were placed under a debit freeze on the very next day. It observed that despite examining the record, it was unable, at this stage, to identify any material that justified such immediate coercive action by the investigating agency.
The Court also questioned the State Government and the West Bengal Police over the unusually swift action taken in the matter, observing during the hearing that such promptness is seldom witnessed when ordinary citizens approach the police with complaints. It contrasted the rapid freezing of the accounts with the delays often faced by common citizens in securing police action.
Appearing for the State, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the authorities had acted to safeguard public money and property. He also argued that de-freezing the accounts without safeguards could lead to competing claims by rival factions within the TMC regarding control over the accounts.
The High Court acknowledged that rival factions were claiming to be the legitimate Trinamool Congress and noted that the dispute regarding the recognised faction is presently pending before the Election Commission of India. However, the Court held that the issue of determining the legitimate political faction fell outside the scope of the present proceedings. It observed that any faction recognised by the Election Commission in future would be at liberty to seek appropriate relief before the Court.
The Court also expressed prima facie reservations regarding the conduct of complainant Biswanath Das. It observed that although the alleged financial irregularities related to a period preceding the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, the complainant had not raised the issue before the declaration of election results. The Court remarked that the timing of the complaint appeared opportunistic and suggested that the proceedings were initiated primarily to secure the freezing of the party’s bank accounts.
Responding to these observations, Senior Advocate K. Parameshwar, appearing for Das, submitted that the complaint had been filed only after the alleged financial irregularities came to light following the election results. The Court, however, observed that the complaint itself did not contain the detailed allegations subsequently advanced during the hearing and prima facie appeared to have been filed with the objective of obtaining a debit freeze on the accounts. It also noted that the complainant himself had previously benefited from the operation of the same bank accounts.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 21.
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