Kolkata, Sept. 21 -- The Calcutta High Court has extended its interim protection, allowing the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the All India Trinamool Congress to operate three bank accounts frozen by the West Bengal Police, holding that the Election Commission's interim arrangement over the party's name and symbol did not amount to a final determination of the factional dispute.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharya passed the order while hearing a petition by the Mamata-AITC faction challenging the freezing of the accounts. The state had argued that the faction could no longer claim control over accounts held in the AITC's name after the ECI, ahead of the bypolls, recognised the two groups separately as Mamata-AITC and Democratic-TMC.
Petitioners' counsel submitted that the substantive question of which faction was entitled to represent the party remained pending before the ECI. He also pointed out that the High Court's earlier order in the matter had been challenged before the Supreme Court.
The High Court noted that its previous arrangement allowed the three accounts to be used only for specified purposes and subject to approval by a Special Officer. The order had not determined which faction constituted the "real TMC" and had not authorised the Democratic-TMC faction to operate or deal with the accounts.
Referring to the ECI's order, the court said the poll panel itself had described the arrangement as an interim measure meant for the ensuing by-elections, pending a final decision.
The court consequently continued the interim arrangement until January 29, 2027, or until further orders.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.