Supreme Court urges ED to consider releasing funds from frozen Trinamool Congress accounts

The Supreme Court urged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to consider releasing funds from three frozen HDFC Bank accounts of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for daily operations and legal expenses.

The bench of justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale asked the ED to obtain instructions and revert after a week, without expressing an opinion on the merits.

The TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, argued it was 'completely stifled monetarily' and unable to pay salaries or routine expenses.

The ED, represented by additional solicitor general SV Raju, said the TMC operated other accounts and was not entirely without funds.

The freezing order is under challenge before the Calcutta High Court, which had refused interim relief on July 20 in a money laundering probe.