Kolkata7 minutes agoAuthor: Tirthankar Das
The Supreme Court on Monday dealt with two significant cases involving the Trinamool Congress (TMC), sending party MP Abhishek Banerjee’s plea seeking permission to travel abroad for medical treatment back to the Calcutta High Court while declining to grant immediate relief to the party in its challenge against the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) freezing of three bank accounts.
Abhishek’s medical travel plea
Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP, had moved the Supreme Court after expressing dissatisfaction with the Calcutta High Court’s handling of his plea to travel to the United States for specialised eye treatment.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohan declined to entertain the matter at this stage and directed Abhishek to pursue his case before the Calcutta High Court. However, the apex court requested the High Court to consider hearing the matter expeditiously.
High Court hearing requested urgently
The case is currently pending before Justice Sougata Bhattacharya of the Calcutta High Court. During an earlier hearing, the High Court had asked whether Abhishek had consulted any eye specialist in Kolkata before seeking treatment overseas.
Appearing for the MP, his counsel argued that Abhishek has been undergoing treatment in the United States for several years and therefore wanted to continue his medical care there. The West Bengal government opposed the plea, contending that several cases against the MP are still pending and allowing him to leave the country could hamper ongoing investigations.
The High Court had earlier directed Abhishek to first undergo an examination by the Head of the Ophthalmology Department at SSKM Hospital. It observed that if medical experts certify that the required treatment is unavailable in Kolkata and can only be provided abroad, the court would consider granting permission for foreign travel.
No interim relief for TMC over frozen bank accounts
In a separate hearing, the Supreme Court refused to grant immediate relief to the Trinamool Congress over the ED’s decision to freeze three of its bank accounts as part of a money laundering investigation.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the party, argued that freezing all three accounts had severely affected the party’s day-to-day organisational activities. Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy informed the court that salaries of around 215 employees remained unpaid because of the freeze.
ED opposes interim financial relief
Opposing the plea, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the Centre, submitted that the party still had access to approximately ₹164 crore in other bank accounts and therefore was not completely deprived of funds.
A bench led by Justice M.M. Sundresh stated that it would hear detailed arguments from both the Enforcement Directorate and the Trinamool Congress during the next hearing scheduled for Tuesday. The court also sought views on whether limited funds required for routine administrative expenses could be released through the administrator appointed by the Calcutta High Court.
The Supreme Court clarified that it would not interfere with the main proceedings pending before the Calcutta High Court at this stage.
Next Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday
The ED had frozen three TMC bank accounts containing around ₹440 crore in connection with an alleged money laundering probe linked to financial transactions involving the purchase of an aircraft and a helicopter. Earlier, the Calcutta High Court had refused to stay the ED’s action, holding that no case for interim relief had been made out, while allowing the main writ petition challenging the freeze to continue.
