The Supreme Court on Thursday refused relief to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faction in its plea to operate four debit-frozen bank accounts holding around Rs 804 crore.

A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.B. Varale said it would not exercise jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution. The bench asked the Calcutta High Court to expedite the hearing.

The Election Commission has frozen the party symbol, so the larger question of which faction is entitled to the funds is still pending adjudication, the bench noted.

The accounts, with Indian Bank, were frozen by the West Bengal Police. The faction argued there were lacunae in the FIRs behind the freeze.

The Calcutta High Court had on August 27 refused interim relief, saying it would undermine its earlier order letting the party meet day-to-day expenses.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the freeze had paralysed the party’s functioning. The party had sought funds to prepare for upcoming bypolls.