The Calcutta High Court on January 14 disposed of a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over raids conducted at the office of political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain. The court ruled that no further adjudication was required after the ED categorically stated that it had not seized any material from the premises.
The petition was heard by a bench headed by Justice Ghosh, which noted that in view of the submissions made by the ED, the relief sought by the TMC no longer survived.
TMC’s Plea and ED’s Stand
The TMC had approached the High Court seeking protection and preservation of what it described as “confidential political data” allegedly seized by the ED during search operations carried out on January 8. The party contended that internal documents, digital devices and sensitive election-related material had been taken by the probe agency.
However, appearing for the ED, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju told the court that no seizure whatsoever had been effected either from the I-PAC office or from Pratik Jain’s residence. Raju further submitted that it was, in fact, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had taken away files and digital devices from the premises during the raid.
Recording the submissions, the bench observed that no seizure had been carried out by the ED on January 8 and stated, “In view of such submissions, nothing remains to be dealt with, and the application is disposed of.”
ED Moves Supreme Court
During the hearing, the ED sought an adjournment, informing the court that it had moved the Supreme Court in connection with the matter. TMC counsel Menaka Guruswamy maintained that the party’s limited plea was only for protection of its data and not to stall the investigation.
Both the ED’s plea alleging obstruction and the TMC’s petition claiming seizure of confidential data were listed before the High Court on the same day.
The ED conducted searches at 10 locations, six in West Bengal and four in Delhi, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with a coal smuggling and money-laundering probe linked to Anup Majee. The search locations included the I-PAC office and Pratik Jain’s residence. I-PAC has been associated with the TMC since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The raids quickly escalated into a political flashpoint after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the raid sites and accused the BJP-led Centre of targeting her party ahead of elections. She alleged that the ED was attempting to seize the TMC’s internal strategy documents, hard disks and sensitive campaign data.
In a press statement issued earlier, the ED alleged that Banerjee entered Jain’s residence on Loudon Road during the searches and “took away key evidence,” repeating similar actions at the I-PAC office.
A day after the raids, Mamata Banerjee led a massive protest march in Kolkata, accompanied by several figures from the Bengali film industry. She accused the ED of acting as a political tool of the BJP and asserted that she had done nothing wrong by visiting the premises during the searches.
Subsequently, the ED approached the High Court alleging obstruction of its investigation by the Chief Minister, while the TMC filed its petition claiming unlawful seizure of confidential data.
BJP’s Reaction
Reacting to the High Court’s order, the BJP described the ruling as a strong rebuke to the Chief Minister. BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya said the decision was a “massive embarrassment” for Mamata Banerjee and alleged that she had interfered with an ED raid linked to a coal smuggling and money-laundering case.
In a post on social media platform X, Malviya claimed the order reaffirmed that constitutional authorities cannot be influenced by political pressure or public theatrics, accusing the Chief Minister of undermining the rule of law and shielding corruption.
