Raids on I-PAC: ED prepares to move SC; Bengal Govt files caveat to pre-empt ex-parte order

As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) prepares to move the Supreme Court for a CBI probe into alleged obstruction by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a raid on political consultancy firm I-PAC in Kolkata, the West Bengal Government on Saturday filed a caveat to pre-empt any ex-parte order against it.

In its caveat filed in the top court, the TMC Government requested that no decision should be taken without giving it an opportunity to be heard.

A caveat, filed before a constitutional court, is meant to ensure that no adverse order is passed without hearing the party concerned.

The ED had on January 8 conducted raids at the premises of I-PAC and at the residence of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata searches as a part of a money-laundering probe into an alleged multi-crore coal pilferage case. Banerjee and others allegedly caused obstructions during the raid.

Both the ED and the West Bengal Government have already filed petitions against each other in the Calcutta High Court on the issue. Accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “forcible theft” of “digital devices and documents,” the ED urged the high court to order a CBI probe into the entire incident, including the role of the chief minister and senior police officers, such as state DGP Rajeev Kumar, Calcutta Police chief Manoj Verma and others. The state government has sought restraint on alleged misuse of seized data.

Justice Subhra Ghosh of the Calcutta High Court had on Friday walked out as he could not conduct proceedings in the din in his overcrowded courtroom packed with lawyers linked to both the TMC and the BJP.

Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul declined to intervene in the matter as requested by the ED’s counsel and the matter was scheduled to come up for hearing before Justice Ghosh on January 14.