ED raids on I-PAC
KOLKATA, Jan 14: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday disposed of the TMC’s petition praying for protection of its data after the ED informed it that nothing was seized from I-PAC director Pratik Jain’s office and home during its raids last week.
TMC had moved the court seeking an order for preservation of personal and political data that the Enforcement Directorate may have seized during its raids on these two premises on January 8.
Representing the central agency, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju submitted before the court that the agency had not seized anything from these two sites and that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had visited these premises during the raids, took all the digital devices and records from there.
In view of the submissions made by the ED and the Union of India, nothing further remained to be dealt with in the matter, Justice Suvra Ghosh said and disposed of the TMC petition.
The court also adjourned a separate petition filed by the ED seeking a CBI probe into the events of January 8, when Banerjee visited the political consultancy firm’s office in Salt Lake and its director’s residence on Loudon Street in south Kolkata during the raids.
The high court adjourned the central agency’s plea after the ASG stated that it had filed two petitions before the Supreme Court with prayers, which are almost identical to the present application before it. Raju argued that when a similar issue is pending before the apex court, a high court should refrain from hearing a matter on the same subject.
The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Thursday the ED’s plea, alleging interference and obstruction by the West Bengal government, including by Banerjee, in its probe and search operation at the I-PAC office and the premises of its director, Pratik Jain, in connection with an alleged coal-pilferage scam. According to the cause list of the apex court, a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Vipul Pancholi is likely to hear the matter.
The WB government has also filed a caveat in the top court, seeking that no order should be passed without hearing it in connection with the ED raids. (PTI)
