A day after Enforcement Directorate raided I-PAC offices and the residence of its director Pratik Jain, the political consultancy has broken silence on Friday, saying the Centre's move sets an "unsettling precedent".
The raids were linked to a money laundering case related to coal smuggling. These include 10 premises in West Bengal and Delhi.
I-PAC said its has worked for parties across ideologies, including the ruling BJP, the Congress, AAP and TMC among others.
"Yesterday, officials from the Enforcement Directorate carried out searches at the I-PAC office and at the residence of our Director, Pratik Jain, in Kolkata. It was a difficult and unfortunate day for a professional organisation like I-PAC. We believe this raises serious concerns and sets an unsettling precedent," read the statement.
I-PAC said it has offered full cooperation and will follow the process as required by the law.
"Over the years, I-PAC has worked in a professional advisory capacity with multiple political parties across ideologies and regions, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian National Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, All India Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, YSR Congress Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now BRS), Janata Dal (United), Shiv Sena among others," it added.
I-PAC said it does not contest elections or hold political office. "Our role is limited to transparent and professional political consulting, uninfluenced by differences in political ideology," said the statement.
The BJP on Friday condemned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her conduct during the ED raids, alleging that she tried to "rescue something sensitive" implicating her and her party in the money laundering case linked to the alleged coal smuggling.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said Banerjee should be made an accused for intimidating Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials investigating the case and "snatching away" documents from them during the raids.
However, Mamata slammed the ED of acting as a political tool of the BJP for trying to "steal" her party's internal strategy. The CM said she had intervened at the raid site purely in her capacity as the chairperson of the Trinamool Congress and not as the CM.
"What I did yesterday, I did as the TMC chairperson. I have done nothing illegal," she said, referring to her unexpected arrival at the venue of ED searches.
