Top court pauses Kolkata Police FIRs against ED in I-PAC raid case
In a major setback to the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government and the Kolkata Police, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the FIRs registered against officers of the Enforcement Directorate in connection with searches conducted at premises linked to political consultancy firm I-PAC. The court also issued notices to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Personnel and Training, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress government, seeking their responses to the ED’s plea seeking suspension of West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma and other officials, along with a request for a CBI probe into the matter.
A Bench of Justices Prashant Mishra and Vipul Pancholi observed that the petition raised serious questions about interference by state authorities in investigations carried out by central agencies. “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, can they be obstructed by party activities?” the court remarked, listing the matter for further hearing on February 3.
The ruling comes amid an escalating confrontation between the ED and the Bengal government following searches at I-PAC premises, which manages election campaigns for the TMC, in connection with an alleged coal smuggling-linked corruption case. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court said it was “very much disturbed” by reports of chaos in the Calcutta High Court during a related hearing, asking whether the court had been turned into “Jantar Mantar.”
Appearing for the ED, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior police officials of barging into the search premises, sitting on a dharna with political leaders and seizing crucial evidence, including an ED officer’s phone, during the raid at the residence of I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain. Describing the incident as “mobocracy,” Mehta alleged that lawyers were mobilised through WhatsApp messages to disrupt High Court proceedings and urged the apex court to settle the issue “once and for all.”
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal government and police officials, questioned the timing of the ED action ahead of Assembly elections and argued that election-related data housed at I-PAC was confidential. However, the Bench cautioned that “emotions cannot go out of hand repeatedly,” underlining concerns over repeated disruptions to judicial and investigative processes.
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