New Delhi, Feb 18 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned to March 18 the hearing on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea alleging obstruction by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state authorities during raids at the I-PAC office and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain, linked to an alleged coal pilferage scam.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan deferred the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that a rejoinder would be filed during the day.
The apex court had earlier, on January 15, described the chief minister’s alleged obstruction in the probe as “very serious” and agreed to examine whether state agencies can interfere in central investigations of serious offences. At that time, the court stayed FIRs filed against ED officials and directed the state police to safeguard CCTV footage from the raid.
The ED has alleged that Banerjee entered the raid sites, removed key documents and electronic devices, and intimidated officers, compromising the agency’s ability to conduct an independent investigation. The plea requests a CBI probe into the alleged obstruction and interference by the chief minister, the West Bengal government, DGP Rajeev Kumar, and senior police officials.
The raids, conducted on January 8, were part of a money laundering investigation into a multi-crore coal pilferage scam, targeting I-PAC, the political consultancy of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). The ED claims Banerjee’s actions hindered the search operation and impacted evidence collection.
The TMC, however, has denied allegations of obstruction, asserting that the ED’s actions were intended to access confidential election-strategy material and disrupt the party’s preparations ahead of upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal.
The Supreme Court will now hear the matter in detail on March 18 after receiving the rejoinder from the central agency.