'Very serious', SC raps Mamta govt in ED raid case

The Supreme Court on Thursday described the ED's allegation that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee caused "obstruction" in its probe as "very serious" and agreed to examine whether a state's law-enforcing agencies can interfere with any central agency's investigation into any serious offence. The top court stayed the FIR filed in West Bengal against ED officials who raided the I-PAC office and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain, on January 8 and directed the state police to protect the CCTV footage of the raids. A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Vipul Pancholi issued notices to CM Banerjee, the West Bengal government, DGP Rajeev Kumar and top cops on the ED's petitions seeking a CBI probe against them for allegedly obstructing raids at I-PAC premises.

The bench also sought replies from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Personnel & Training, Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress government in Bengal on the central agency's petition seeking the suspension of Bengal's DGP Rajeev Kumar and Kolkata Police Commissio"There are larger questions which emerge and if not answered shall lead to lawlessness. If central agencies are working bona fide to probe a serious offence, a question arises: Can they be obstructed by party activities?" the court said.ner Manoj Kumar Verma, among others. The court has also sought a reply to the petition for a CBI probe in the matter.The probe agency told the court that Mamata has a “shocking pattern” of barging into premises during proceedings by statutory authorities.

Appearing for the central agency, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta accused Banerjee of "theft" and said she took evidence from the residence of IPAC co-founder Pratik Jain. "This kind of act will encourage state police officers to aid and abet such cases," he said, and demanded the suspension of top Bengal cops. "This is mobocracy," Mehta told the court, describing the chaos in Calcutta High Court on January 9 when a battery of lawyers not linked to the case disrupted the proceedings, leading the judge to adjourn the hearing. Mehta said that "this is not the first time" that Mamata Banerjee has done this and urged the top court to settle the issue once and for all.

Appearing for Banerjee, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal questioned the need for the ED to go to Bengal ahead of the Assembly polls. "The last development in the coal scam case took place in February 2024. What were they doing there in 2026. We all know IPAC takes care of elections in West Bengal. There is a formal contract between IPC and TMC," he said."Election data is confidential and it is all kept there. There will be a lot of info on candidates etc. Once you have info, how do we fight the election? Chairman (Banerjee) has the right to protect it and thus went there," he said.