Supreme Court To Hear ED's Plea Against Mamata Banerjee Over I-PAC Raid Tomorrow

The Supreme Court will hear tomorrow the petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly obstructing the ED's search of the office of I-PAC, the political consultant of the All India Trinamool Congress.A bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Vipul M Pancholi will hear the writ petition filed by the ED under Article 32 of the Constitution.The petition has been filed against the State of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, WB DGP Rajeev Kumar, Kokata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma and South Kolkata Dy Commissioner Priyabatra Roy.The plea follows events from last week when ED officials were conducting searches at the office of Indian Political Action Committee or I-PAC in Kolkata in connection with coal scam money laundering probe. During the operation, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee allegedly reached the I-PAC office along with senior party leaders and confronted ED officials. The ED has also alleged that the Chief Minister took away certain files from the premises during the raid, which it claims further impeded the investigation.According to the ED, the Chief Minister's presence at the search site and the alleged removal of documents had an intimidating effect on officers and seriously compromised the agency's ability to discharge its statutory functions independently. The agency has alleged repeated obstruction and non-cooperation by the state administration.The West Bengal police has also registered an FIR against ED officers. In its Article 32 petition before the Supreme Court, the ED has sought directions for an independent inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation, contending that a neutral central agency is necessary in view of the alleged interference by the state executive.Prior to approaching the Supreme Court, the ED had moved the Calcutta High Court in relation to the same incident, seeking protection and appropriate directions. The High Court adjourned the matter to January 14.In a related development, the Calcutta High Court today disposed of the petition filed by the Trinamool Congress recording the statement made by the ED that it has not seized anything from the office of I-PAC or its director Prateek Jain.Case : DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT AND ANR. v. THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS. | W.P.(Crl.) No. 16/2026

Supreme Court To Hear ED's Plea Against Mamata Banerjee Over I-PAC Raid Tomorrow

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