The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it was being “terrorised”, after the West Bengal government argued that the central agency had been “weaponised”, Live Law reported.
The remarks were made when a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan was hearing a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and several West Bengal Police officers for allegedly obstructing its searches at the premises of political consultancy I-PAC on January 8.
The central agency had conducted searches at the political consultancy’s office in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area, the home of its head Pratik Jain and the office of a trader in the city’s Posta neighbourhood as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering.
The Indian Political Action Committee has managed the Trinamool Congress’ election campaigns, including in the 2021 Assembly elections.
Banerjee had arrived at Jain’s home around noon while the search was underway and stayed for about 20 to 25 minutes. She then came out with a green file and claimed that the central agency’s officials were “taking away” party documents ahead of the Assembly elections.
The state is expected to head for elections in March or April.
After the raids, the Trinamool Congress and I-PAC moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the legality of the searches. The central agency also approached the High Court, alleging “illegal interference” during its search operations.
The Enforcement Directorate’s petition in the Supreme Court was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, which grants individuals the right to move the top court for enforcement of their fundamental rights.
On Wednesday, advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the West Bengal government, told the Supreme Court that the Enforcement Directorate “will have to justify how an agency can be weaponised like this”, Bar and Bench reported.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the central agency, said in response: “No, agency is not weaponised. The agency has been terrorised.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, also noted that the case involved an important principle related to Article 32, according to the legal news portal.
He was referring to the state government’s argument that the petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate under Article 32 was not maintainable. The state government has said that Article 32 was a remedy available to citizens against the government’s actions and cannot be invoked by a government agency such as the Enforcement Directorate.
The bench listed the matter for further hearing on March 18, Live Law reported.
At the last hearing in the Supreme Court on January 15, the bench had stayed the first information reports registered by the West Bengal Police against Enforcement Directorate officials in connection with the searches.
Issuing notice to Banerjee and the West Bengal Police officers on the petition filed by the central agency, the Supreme Court had said that the alleged interference of the state government in the searches was a “serious issue” that needed to be examined.
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