Kolkata, 02 July (H.S.) : The Calcutta High Court on Thursday issued key directions to a private bank and the police while hearing a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) challenging the debit freeze imposed on three of its bank accounts.

Hearing the matter, Justice Sougata Bhattacharyya directed the concerned bank to file a detailed affidavit containing complete information relating to the three accounts. The court also instructed the police to submit a progress report on the ongoing investigation.

The High Court, however, declined to grant any interim relief to the TMC by lifting the debit freeze. As a result, the restriction on withdrawals from the three accounts will remain in force until further orders.

Both the bank and the police have been directed to file their respective affidavits and investigation reports by July 7.

Earlier this month, the private bank imposed a debit freeze on the three TMC accounts following instructions from the police.

According to police sources, the action followed two developments. First, former TMC treasurer and former minister Arup Biswas, who is reportedly associated with the rebel but majority faction led by expelled party leader Ritabrata Banerjee, wrote to the bank alleging possible misuse of party funds and requested that the accounts be frozen.

Subsequently, several TMC legislators aligned with the same faction reportedly approached the police with a similar request. Acting on these complaints, the police instructed the bank to impose a debit restriction on the accounts. The three accounts are said to hold deposits of approximately ₹440 crore.

The faction led by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the party's National General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee subsequently challenged the freezing of the accounts before the Calcutta High Court.

Following Thursday's hearing, the court directed the bank to disclose all relevant details of the accounts through an affidavit and asked the police to place the status of the investigation on record. The matter will be taken up again after the submission of the affidavits and investigation report, based on which the court will decide the next course of action.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh