ED summons TMC treasurer Subhashish Chakraborty in ₹440 crore frozen accounts case
Synopsis
The ED has summoned TMC's treasurer Subhashish Chakraborty for questioning over ₹440 crore sitting frozen in three party bank accounts — and the Calcutta High Court has refused to lift the agency's freeze. With a private aviation firm already in the crosshairs over ₹160 crore in alleged fictitious transactions, the probe is closing in on the financial nerve centre of Mamata Banerjee's party.
Key Takeaways
The ED summoned Subhashish Chakraborty , TMC treasurer and former Rajya Sabha member, for interrogation on 22 July over three frozen party bank accounts.
The three accounts hold combined deposits of ₹440 crore ; the ED has flagged allegedly suspicious transactions of ₹164 crore .
Private aviation firm Carewell received over ₹160 crore from TMC funds; its two directors have already been questioned by the ED.
The Calcutta High Court on 20 July refused an interim stay on the ED-imposed freeze, allowing debit restrictions to continue.
Chakraborty has sought time to consult Mamata Banerjee -led party leadership before appearing before the agency.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, 22 July issued a summons to Subhashish Chakraborty, former Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha member and current treasurer of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction, for interrogation in connection with its probe into three frozen bank accounts holding combined deposits of ₹440 crore. Chakraborty has been asked to appear at the ED's Salt Lake office on the northern outskirts of Kolkata by the end of this week.
Who Is Subhashish Chakraborty
Subhashish Chakraborty serves as treasurer of the TMC faction led by Mamata Banerjee, the former West Bengal Chief Minister, and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the party's general secretary. He confirmed to reporters on Wednesday morning that he had sought additional time from the agency to consult with party leadership before appearing for questioning.
The Aviation Company Angle
The ED had earlier summoned Pawan Jaju and Ramesh Jaju, two directors of private aviation firm Carewell, and recorded their statements in connection with allegedly fictitious transactions from one of the three TMC bank accounts. According to the agency, TMC had hired planes and helicopters from Carewell, and the company received over ₹160 crore from TMC party funds through one of these accounts. The ED has flagged these transactions as suspicious, totalling ₹164 crore across the three accounts.
Calcutta High Court Refuses Stay
On 20 July, a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court presided over by Justice Krishna Rao refused to grant an interim stay on the ED-imposed freeze on the three accounts. The bench observed that the court would not interfere with the ED's decision at this stage, allowing debit restrictions to continue until further orders.
This came after an earlier bench of Justice Sougata Bhattacharya had permitted a 'partial and temporary withdrawal' of debit restrictions that were initially imposed by state police. The ED subsequently enforced its own freeze, citing the suspicious ₹164 crore transactions, prompting the Banerjee-led faction to approach Justice Rao's bench — a petition that was ultimately rejected.
Background and What Comes Next
The debit restrictions on the three accounts were first imposed by bank authorities acting on police instructions. The ED's parallel freeze represents a second layer of financial scrutiny, one that the Calcutta High Court has now declined to lift at the interim stage. This is the latest in a series of central agency actions targeting TMC's financial operations in West Bengal. With Chakraborty's interrogation imminent and the court freeze intact, the investigation is expected to widen as the ED continues examining fund flows in and out of the party accounts.
Point of View
And the bench's restraint suggests the ED's evidentiary basis was substantial enough to pass initial judicial scrutiny. The Carewell aviation angle is particularly telling — ₹160 crore flowing from a political party to a private charter firm invites questions about whether these were legitimate operational expenses or a conduit for something else. What mainstream coverage underplays is the dual-freeze architecture here: state police froze the accounts first, then the ED layered its own restrictions on top. That sequence matters — it means the financial lockdown survived a change in the enforcing authority, making it harder for TMC to argue procedural grounds for relief.
NationPress
22 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why has the ED summoned Subhashish Chakraborty?
The ED has summoned Subhashish Chakraborty, treasurer of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction, for interrogation in connection with its probe into three frozen TMC bank accounts holding ₹440 crore. The agency is investigating allegedly suspicious transactions of ₹164 crore linked to these accounts.
What are the three frozen TMC bank accounts?
These are three bank accounts belonging to the Trinamool Congress faction led by Mamata Banerjee, which together hold deposits of ₹440 crore. They were first frozen by bank authorities on police instructions, and subsequently subjected to a separate ED-imposed freeze over suspicious transactions.
What is the Carewell aviation company's role in the ED probe?
Carewell is a private aviation firm whose two directors, Pawan Jaju and Ramesh Jaju, were summoned and questioned by the ED. According to the agency, TMC hired planes and helicopters from Carewell and transferred over ₹160 crore from party funds to the company — transactions the ED has described as allegedly fictitious.
What did the Calcutta High Court decide on the ED freeze?
On 20 July, Justice Krishna Rao of the Calcutta High Court refused to grant an interim stay on the ED-imposed freeze, stating the court would not interfere with the agency's decision at this stage. Debit restrictions on all three accounts continue until further orders.
What happens next in the ED investigation?
Chakraborty is expected to appear at the ED's Salt Lake office in Kolkata by the end of this week for questioning. The agency is likely to continue examining fund flows from the three accounts, with the Carewell transactions forming a key thread of the investigation.
