Culcutta HC adjourns ED plea seeking CBI probe against CM Mamata Banerjee after 'commotion' in courtroom

The Culcutta High Court has adjourned the hearing on the plea filed by the ED against West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee due to large-scale commotion inside the courtroom. 

The petition which was meant to be heard by Justice Suvra Ghosh alongside a similar petition filed by the All India Trinamool Congress against the seizure of its party documents from the I-PAC premises on Friday, will now be heard on January 14.

The lawyers who were scheduled to argue the matter were reportedly unable to even reach the bench amid the chaos despite attempts to clear the courtroom and restore order.

The Enforcement Directorate, in a plea before the Calcutta High Court, had sought a CBI investigation into the role of Banerjee, police officers, and others who stormed into the premises of Indian Pac Consulting Private Limited, I-Pac, while the agency was carrying out a raid. The ED also filed charges against political consultancy firm I-Pac and its director for allegedly obstructing the raids.

In its 28-page petition, the ED requested that all digital devices, electronic records, and documents that were “illegally and forcibly” removed during the search be immediately seized and handed back over to the ED.

The CM is alleged to have taken various documents and electronic evidence from the premises during the ED raid. I-Pac has been providing political consultancy services to the TMC and the state government since 2021.

She alleged that the documents contained information about her political party.

The ED, however, said that the searches were carried out as part of an investigation in connection with a money laundering case registered in 2020 against Anup Majee, who is facing coal-smuggling charges.

A coal smuggling syndicate allegedly used to steal and illegally excavate coal from ECL leasehold areas of West Bengal and sell it to various plants.

In the petition, it said “Concrete evidence found during the investigation suggests that criminal proceeds of at least Rs 20 crore were transferred to I-Pac through hawala channels.”

“In continuation of the investigation and to trace the proceeds of crime and their user, a search operation was initiated against I-Pac and some other entities in connection with the Coal smuggling case,” the petition read.

The agency also said that Banerjee, with the help of policemen, forcibly took all of the digital devices as well as incriminating important documents from the authorised officer.

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Sources say that she confiscated Pratk Jain’s mobile phone. The West Bengal Director General of Police was also present and reportedly asked ED officials not to record anything on the phone.