KOLKATA – In an unprecedented legal escalation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has moved the Calcutta High Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The federal agency has accused the Chief Minister of "personally obstructing" a lawful search and "forcibly removing" crucial evidence during raids conducted at the premises of political consultancy firm I-PAC and its co-founder Pratik Jain.
The matter, which has sparked a massive constitutional standoff, is set to be heard by Justice Suvra Ghosh on Friday afternoon. The Court will simultaneously consider a counter-petition filed by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which alleges that the ED’s actions were a "targeted" attempt to seize confidential party documents and election strategies ahead of the upcoming State Assembly polls.
The controversy erupted on Thursday when ED officials arrived at the Loudon Street residence of I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain and the firm’s Sector V office in Salt Lake. The searches were part of a money-laundering investigation linked to a 2020 coal smuggling case.
However, the routine investigative procedure turned into a high-voltage drama when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached the search sites. In its plea before the High Court, the ED alleged that the Chief Minister, accompanied by senior Kolkata Police officials, "stormed" into the premises and interfered with the proceedings.
The agency’s petition states:
"The sitting Chief Minister, a constitutional functionary, has illegally interfered with and obstructed lawful search and seizure proceedings... Such interference constitutes a direct assault on the independent powers of a statutory investigating agency and subverts the rule of law."
The ED further alleged that its officers were "wrongfully restrained and confined," and physically prevented from performing their duties. Consequently, the agency has prayed for a CBI-led FIR, arguing that since the state police and the CM themselves are the alleged "perpetrators," only an independent central agency can conduct a fair investigation.
On the other side of the legal aisle, the Trinamool Congress has raised serious concerns regarding the "sanctity of political data." The Chief Minister, speaking to the media shortly after leaving Pratik Jain’s residence, was seen carrying a green folder and a laptop.
She alleged that the ED was attempting to "steal" her party’s internal information, including candidate lists, booth-level strategies, and IT wing data.
"Is it the duty of the ED or the Home Minister to collect a political party's internal strategy and candidate lists?" Banerjee questioned, describing the raid as "political vendetta." The TMC’s petition before the High Court prays for a stay on the leaking of any party-related information by the central agency, contending that such materials have no connection to the alleged "proceeds of crime."
While the political narrative focuses on the raid itself, the legal basis for the search lies in a multi-crore coal smuggling case.
According to the ED, the investigation stems from a 2020 FIR registered against businessman Anup Majee (alias Lala). The agency alleges that a syndicate led by Majee illegally excavated coal from Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) leasehold areas and sold it to various factories.