High Court Appoints Special Officer To Manage Frozen TMC Accounts

The Calcutta High Court has designated retired judge Subrata Talukdar to oversee the daily expenditures of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress. Talukdar will supervise transactions from three frozen bank accounts belonging to the party, PTI reported. Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya issued the order, which remains in force until September 30, 2026.

The three private bank accounts were debit-frozen on June 19, 2026. This action occurred the day after an FIR was registered on June 18 at the Cyber Crime Police Station of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, alleging the accounts held proceeds of crime.

The freeze followed a complaint by rival party legislators Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha who lead the rebel faction of the TMC.

Court Outlines Financial Operations

Under the court order, any two approved signatories can submit cheques to the special officer to withdraw cash. Though these funds must only cover the daily operational costs of running the political party.

The court also allowed funds for legal expenses and a monthly honorarium of ₹1.25 lakh for the special officer. The special officer must file an expenditure report on the next hearing date. The bank has also been asked to preserve all electronic records of transactions and cooperate fully with the police.

The police were directed to file an investigation progress report by the next hearing on September 21, 2026. The court also directed that any decision by the Election Commission regarding faction recognition be brought to its notice to potentially vacate this interim order.

Factions Clash Over Funds

Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented the Mamata-aligned faction called the Ritabrata faction to have been formed with the objective of crippling the TMC.

"The complainants are part of a faction of the party formed after the declaration of the West Bengal assembly election results on May 4, 2026, with the 'oblique motive' of crippling a political party," Singhvi told PTI.

Singhvi said the difference in vote share between the TMC and the BJP in the poll results was 5 per cent while also highlighting that  the complainants themselves benefited from these same bank accounts to contest the assembly elections on TMC tickets. The petitioner prayed for a direction upon the police authorities to permit the operation of the three debit-frozen bank accounts.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta representing the police said the investigating agency had to act expeditiously to prevent illegal transactions. He also added that the rival faction is also seeking official recognition from the Election Commission of India.