Supreme Court To Hear TMC Plea Against ED Freezing Bank Accounts

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) decision to freeze three of the party’s bank accounts in an alleged money laundering case.

According to the Supreme Court’s cause list, a Bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale will likely hear the matter.

The petition challenges the July 20 order of the Calcutta High Court, which refused to grant interim relief against the ED’s action under Section 17(1-A) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case concerns three HDFC Bank accounts of the Trinamool Congress that the ED placed under debit restrictions after registering an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on June 23.

The ECIR was based on a predicate FIR lodged by the Cyber Crime Police Station in Bidhannagar.

While refusing interim relief, the Calcutta High Court held that no prima facie case existed for interference at that stage. It also noted that the ED had identified substantial fund transfers from the party’s accounts to multiple entities, including the Carewell Group, and said those transactions required detailed examination during the proceedings.

The High Court further observed that the ED had frozen only six bank accounts, while the Trinamool Congress continued to operate 36 other accounts with deposits exceeding Rs 164 crore. It also rejected the ED’s objection to the maintainability of the petition, holding that an authorised representative had validly filed the plea.

The ED launched its investigation after detecting allegedly suspicious transactions worth Rs 164 crore.

The Trinamool Congress has alleged that the agency’s action is arbitrary and politically motivated.

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