Overview
- The Enforcement Directorate froze three Trinamool Congress bank accounts holding about Rs 440 crore as part of a money‑laundering probe and banks placed debit restrictions after instructions from police and the ED.
- The Mamata Banerjee‑led TMC moved the Calcutta High Court seeking interim permission to operate the accounts and to set aside the freeze.
- During the hearing the ED challenged the petition’s maintainability and the petitioners’ authority to sue, and offered to place its confidential 'reasons to believe' before the court rather than the party.
- The court refused a Ritabrata‑led rebel faction’s plea to be impleaded and said recognition of competing party claims is for the Election Commission to decide, leaving factional access to funds unresolved.
- The case turns on PMLA procedure — notably Section 17 and post‑2019 law changes that the ED says remove the need for an FIR to seize property — and the judge reserved interim orders after Monday’s hearing, with practical consequences for the party’s salaries and day‑to‑day operations.