The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on the Enforcement Directorate’s plea seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee obstructed the agency’s search operations at the premises of political consultancy firm I-PAC in Kolkata in January this year. The matter was heard by Justice PK Mishra and Justice NV Anjaria.
The case arises from searches conducted by the ED on January 8 at the office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), which works with the All India Trinamool Congress, and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain, in connection with a money-laundering investigation linked to an alleged coal pilferage scam.
The ED has alleged that Mamata Banerjee arrived at the premises during the searches and interfered with the agency’s investigation, including by allegedly removing documents and electronic devices from the search site. The agency has contended that the alleged interference impeded its officers from discharging their statutory duties and sought an independent investigation by the CBI.
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Mamata Banerjee disputed the allegations arguing that the ED’s action was aimed at accessing confidential political material belonging to the Trinamool Congress, which uses I-PAC for its election-related work. They have also raised objections to the maintainability of the ED’s petition before the Supreme Court.
The Court had earlier issued notice on the ED’s plea and stayed further proceedings in FIRs registered by the West Bengal Police against ED officials. It also directed the preservation of CCTV footage and other electronic records relating to the searches.
In earlier hearings, the Bench observed that alleged interference by State agencies in investigations conducted by central agencies raised serious questions concerning the rule of law and the independent functioning of investigative authorities.
The Court has now reserved its order on the ED’s plea seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged obstruction.
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