In what could be a major relief for the TMC, the Calcutta High Court extended its interim order permitting the faction to operate three bank accounts frozen by the West Bengal Police. The court observed that the ECI directive freezing the TMC party name and symbol is temporary, limited just to the bypolls, and will not apply to the management of bank accounts for the time being.
The order was passed by Justice Saugata Bhattacharya on a plea filed by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction. The State opposed the plea, contending that the petitioners had lost their claim over the accounts following an interim order passed by the ECI. It also argued that the bank accounts stood in the name of the "All India Trinamool Congress" and, in view of the ECI's order, the Mamata-AITC faction could no longer claim the right to operate them.
Senior Advocate Shoeb Alam, who appeared for the Mamata faction of the TMC, argued that the issue concerning recognition of the factions remained pending before the ECI, and cited the earlier High Court order which allowed the bank to use the accounts for limited purposes with permission from a special officer.
To this, the court said that the earlier order had not permitted the Democratic-TMC (faction led by Ritabraa) to take any action in respect of the bank accounts. The HC said that the ECI itself had described its order as interim and stated that it was intended to address the issue for the ensuing by-elections and would remain effective until the final determination of the dispute.
"Notwithstanding ECI directions touching upon use of name and symbol, that is for the purpose of ensuing by-elections only and the same is an interim direction pending determination by ECI," the Court observed.
The Court further observed that the issue of recognition of the factions within the TMC was still pending before the ECI and that, in view of the interim nature of the ECI's order, it could not be inferred that the issue had been finally adjudicated by the poll panel.
