New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday the plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleging interference by the West Bengal government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the Central agency’s recent search operations at the office of political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and the residence of its co-founder Pratik Jain in Kolkata.
As per the cause list published on the website of the apex court, the matter is listed before a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Sandeep Mehta.
The hearing was earlier adjourned last week after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, sought time to file a response to the counter affidavit submitted by the West Bengal government.
Acceding to the request, the Justice Mishra-led Bench had deferred the matter for further hearing on February 10.
In its petition, the ED has sought directions for registration of FIRs against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the state Director General of Police (DGP) and the Kolkata Police Commissioner, alleging obstruction of lawful duties during the federal agency’s simultaneous search operations.
In her counter affidavit, Chief Minister Banerjee has denied all allegations of interference and obstruction, asserting that her limited presence at the premises was solely to retrieve confidential and proprietary data belonging to her Trinamool Congress (AITC).
According to the affidavit, Banerjee visited Pratik Jain’s residence at Loudon Street and I-PAC’s office in Bidhannagar on January 8, 2026, after receiving information that sensitive political data of the Trinamool was being accessed during the searches.
She maintained that the data was “vitally linked to the AITC’s strategy for the upcoming Legislative Assembly election”.
The affidavit stated that when she reached the premises, she “politely requested the officials of the Enforcement Directorate to be allowed to retrieve the Party’s data and the devices they were stored in and files containing prints of the same”.
It further claimed that “the officers of the Enforcement Directorate present thereat did not object to this request and permitted her to retrieve some of these devices and physical files”.
“After she had done so, the Answering Respondent (CM Banerjee) left the premises so as to not inconvenience the officials of the Enforcement Directorate in any way,” the counter affidavit said, adding that the ED’s own panchnamas record that the searches continued thereafter and were conducted “peacefully and in an orderly manner”.
Banerjee has also argued that neither the Trinamool nor its officials are accused in the alleged coal scam, and therefore, the ED could not claim any right over the party’s proprietary data.
The counter affidavit has further accused the ED of acting with mala fide intent, alleging that the searches were carried out in the run-up to the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections and after a prolonged period of inaction.
It has questioned the timing of the operations, claiming they coincided with I-PAC possessing “critical documents”, including a proposed list of candidates for the upcoming polls.
Alleging violations of statutory safeguards under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the affidavit has also pointed out that the ED failed to produce any audio or video recording of the searches.
This, it claimed, raises a “strong presumption” that the searches were clandestine and aimed at accessing confidential political data.
Earlier, on January 15, the Supreme Court had stayed the FIRs registered by the West Bengal Police against ED officials in connection with the searches, and had also directed preservation of CCTV footage and other digital storage devices containing recordings of the searched premises as well as the surrounding areas.
(IANS)
