Jalpaiguri: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has lost the authority to freeze assets of two major tea gardens in North Bengal’s Dooars region. The Calcutta High Court’s Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench, in a single bench ruling by Justice Om Narayan Rai, quashed the ED’s freezing orders concerning Bamon Danga Tandu and Samsing Tea Gardens.
The ED had recently frozen assets, including machinery and vehicles, linked to the two estates, citing earlier investigations into financial irregularities. These tea gardens were formerly managed by Prasanna Roy, a close aide of incarcerated former minister Partha Chatterjee, both under probe for their roles in the multi-crore teacher recruitment scam. Roy is accused of diverting illicit funds from the scam into the two tea gardens, prompting ED action. However, the court ruled that since the properties are now under the management of a new owner, Rittik Bhattacharya and prior seizures have already been made during Roy’s tenure, the ED has no authority to impose fresh freezing orders.
Advocate Prabal Kumar Mukherjee, representing Bhattacharya, confirmed the verdict. “We challenged the ED’s directive and the court ruled in our favour. Management of the gardens remains with Bhattacharya,” he said. Bhattacharya also confirmed his continued stewardship: “I will visit both gardens for inspection tomorrow.”
The court order has come as a relief to the workers of Bamon Danga and Samsing. “We were deeply anxious about our future if the ED took direct control. The return of the current management has brought much-needed reassurance,” said Kailash Gope, a local Trinamool trade union leader.