Ritabrata Banerjee faction to move Supreme Court over TMC funds

Kolkata: West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee on Thursday said his faction would move to the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order permitting the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to temporarily operate three of its frozen bank accounts.

"We are going to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP). We have consulted with lawyers and are moving to the Supreme Court. When the case was originally filed in the Calcutta High Court, the ED was not involved. But now that we are filing an SLP in the Supreme Court, the ED will become a party to the proceedings," Banerjee told reporters.

Alleging financial irregularities involving party funds, Ritabrata Banerjee claimed that a company purchased assets using party funds and that the party later paid rent to the same company.


He further said, "Congratulations to this 'new Natwarlal.' The original Natwarlal sold the Taj Mahal; here, a company purchased assets using the party's funds--paying Rs 160 crore from the party's coffers--and then the party paid rent to that same company."

"This is clearly a case of money laundering," he added.

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has condemned the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) decision to freeze Rs 440.42 crore held in three of the party's bank accounts, calling the move politically motivated and accusing the BJP of "misusing investigative agencies" to weaken the opposition.

Meanwhile, reacting to former TMC Rajya Sabha MPs Sushmita Dev, Prakash Chik Baraik and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy joining the BJP, Banerjee said political differences would not affect his personal ties with them.

"I have a long-standing relationship with Sukhendu da; he is a senior politician who has often guided me. Sushmita is a friend; we both became MPs in 2014. Prakash is like a younger brother to me. If they make a personal decision, I have no say in that. Political views may differ, but personal relationships remain. They certainly have every right to do so in a democracy," he said.

Weeks after resigning from the Rajya Sabha, former TMC MPs Sushmita Dev, Prakash Chik Baraik and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy joined the BJP in the presence of West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya at the party office in Salt Lake.