Sanchita Chatterjee, BS News Agency: The Calcutta High Court has rejected a plea for an urgent hearing to restore the frozen bank accounts of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Amidst the internal turmoil within Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, Mamata Banerjee's 'Kalighat faction' has suffered a major setback from the Calcutta High Court.
The High Court categorically rejected the petition seeking an early hearing to restore the party's 'frozen' bank accounts. Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya stated unequivocally that the matter would be heard only according to the scheduled listing; hearing it out of turn was not possible.
In fact, following the recent rift within the Trinamool Congress, the two factions are at loggerheads over control of the party's massive funds. Kishore Datta, the lawyer for the Kalighat faction, had appealed to the court for an emergency hearing citing the gravity of the matter, but the court turned down the request. Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the state government, informed the court that he had received the case documents only on Monday and requested that the hearing commence on Thursday.
Battle for ₹440 crore and the fight for the 'real' party
Following the split in the party, former treasurer Aroop Biswas had written to the bank requesting a halt to transactions, citing internal discord. Subsequently, the faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee—claiming to be the 'real Trinamool'—lodged a complaint with the police.
As a result of this police action, transactions involving a massive sum of approximately ₹440 crore—held across three separate party accounts—have been frozen.
It was against this financial freeze that the Kalighat faction had approached the court. For this legal battle, the Ritabrata faction [engaged] veteran lawyer K... Parameshwar has been fielded, making it clear that this political battle to capture both the Trinamool's 'throne' and its 'treasury' has now taken a highly aggressive turn.