Prateek Tanmay
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday (July 9) appointed a special officer to manage the day-to-day expenses of the Mamata Banerjee-aligned Trinamool Congress (TMC) and partially operate three of its primary HDFC Bank accounts.
The accounts, which allegedly hold a combined corpus of Rs 440 crore, had been frozen by the Bidhannagar police on June 18 following an FIR lodged by a rebel faction of the party. They alleged that the accounts were the repository of proceeds of crime and requested the police to act.
A day after the FIR was registered, the three accounts were made debit-frozen. The complaint also raised questions about party leader and Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee renting chartered flights. Earlier this week, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at five locations in Kolkata in relation to the complaint.
What did the complaint allege?
Former TMC MLA, Sports Minister and party treasurer Aroop Biswas, also part of the rebel TMC faction, wrote to HDFC in June seeking an immediate restriction on the operations of the party’s bank accounts. This was in light of the ongoing dispute over the party’s leadership in the aftermath of its electoral loss.
The Mamata-led Kalighat TMC faction hit back, stating that an organisational reshuffle was announced on June 5 and former MP Subhasish Chakraborty has been named as the new treasurer to replace Biswas. In his communication to the bank, Biswas asserted that he continues to be the party treasurer.
On June 18, a complaint was lodged at the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police station by a faction of rebel TMC MLAs. They alleged that over Rs 440 crore deposited across three private bank accounts may have originated from illicit activities, including cyber fraud and diversion of public funds. Following the registration of the FIR, the police requested the bank to place a debit freeze on the accounts.
The Kalighat TMC then moved the Calcutta High Court.
How has the Enforcement Directorate acted?
On Tuesday, the ED raided several locations, including the office of Carewell Aviation — the source of Banerjee’s charter flight rentals. The next day, the ED stated they had frozen the TMC’s accounts.
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According to the ED, the investigation revealed that around Rs 160 crore was transferred from TMC bank accounts to M/s Carewell Aviation India Pvt. Ltd. and its related entity, mostly between April 2023 and June 2026.
The company then allegedly routed Rs 82.96 crore during 2023-2026 to another newly incorporated related entity for purchasing an aircraft, the Embraer Legacy 600, and one chopper, the Agusta 109 Grand New. “A total of Rs 112 crore was used for these purchases. It was also revealed that $1.7 million was arranged as an unsecured loan in 2023 from a Cayman Islands-based entity to purchase the helicopter,” an ED spokesperson said.
“These Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft and Agusta helicopter were subsequently rented out to TMC itself, even though they were purchased from the corpus of TMC. Later, substantial amounts were transferred on the pretext of aircraft usage. The above-mentioned dubious arrangement is under investigation to ascertain the actual beneficial purpose of the transactions,” the spokesperson said.
Why court approved partial access to accounts, but this will not bring relief
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According to PTI, the court noted that prima facie, the complaint to the Cyber Crime Police Station appeared omnibus in nature without pinpointing any particular incident or transactions that illegally enriched the three accounts. “At this stage, the court is unable to find particular materials which could have been the basis of such abrupt steps,” Justice Bhattacharyya observed on the action of freezing the accounts.
Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Mamata-led TMC, claimed that the complainant had the “oblique motive” of crippling a political party.
In allowing partial access, the HDFC Bank management has been directed to meticulously record all electronic transaction data, banking logs, and financial evidence, and fully cooperate with investigative agencies.
The High Court’s order, however, will not bring any immediate relief to the TMC since the ED late Wednesday night notified the freezing of the same three bank accounts of the party, citing a money laundering investigation.
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The court also noted that the issue of recognition of a faction of the TMC was pending before the Election Commission of India. It directed that the commission’s decision be brought to the court’s notice when it is decided for vacating this interim order.
