The Supreme Court on Wednesday said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s presence at the I-PAC offices in Kolkata during an Enforcement Directorate raid was not a "happy situation", questioning whether the central agency could be left without a remedy in such "unusual" circumstances.
"What if tomorrow, some other chief minister barges into such a raid? Can the ED be left without remedy?" a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and N V Anjaria said while hearing the agency's petition.
The Enforcement Directorate had approached the top court alleging that Banerjee’s actions, including reportedly walking out with a laptop, phone and several documents from the residence of Pratik Jain, head of election consultancy I-PAC, and its offices, amounted to a “gross abuse of power”. The agency has also sought registration of a police case against the Chief Minister and officials who accompanied her.
The Supreme Court has posted the case for the next hearing on March 24.
The ED raids fiasco at I-PAC's Kolkata office
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition by the ED alleging interference by Mamata Banerjee and the state government during its January 8 raids on the Kolkata office of political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its chief, Prateek Jain. The searches were part of a money laundering probe linked to the alleged coal scam.
High drama unfolded that day when Banerjee rushed to Jain’s residence during the raid and walked out carrying a laptop, a phone and several files. She then went to I-PAC’s Salt Lake office, where another ED team was conducting searches, and emerged with additional documents.
The ED called Mamata's actions a "gross abuse of power", while the Bengal chief minister claimed the raids were politically driven in nature as she claimed the BJP leadership of interfering with the TMC's working ahead of the assembly elections in the state. West Bengal will vote in a two-phase election on April 23 and 29 and the results will be declared on May 4.
