A single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court has instructed a private bank to provide a detailed affidavit regarding the freezing of three bank accounts belonging to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress. Additionally, the police, responsible for imposing debit restrictions on these accounts, have been directed to submit a progress report on the ongoing investigation. Despite this, the court has not granted the party’s request to lift the debit restrictions, keeping the accounts inactive until further notice.
The bank authorities and police have been given deadlines to comply with the court’s directives. The bank is required to submit the affidavit by July 7, while the police must provide a report on the matter by the same date. The freezing of the accounts, which contain an estimated Rs 440 crore, was initiated by the bank following instructions from the police.
The decision to freeze the accounts came after requests from both the former treasurer and ex-Minister Aroop Biswas, as well as several Trinamool Congress MLAs from a dissenting faction. Subsequently, the police instructed the bank to freeze the accounts, leading to the legal challenge by the faction aligned with Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee. Following a detailed hearing, the court has set deadlines for the involved parties to provide necessary documentation and reports.
