Calcutta High Court Dismisses TMC's Petition Over ED Raids on I-PAC

Court Ruling on Political Data Protection

On Wednesday, the Calcutta High Court dismissed a petition from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) that sought to safeguard confidential political information, as reported by a legal news outlet.

This decision followed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) statement to Justice Suvra Ghosh, indicating that no documents were seized during their searches at the political consultancy firm I-PAC on January 8.

Representing the ED, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju asserted that any documents or electronic devices taken from the site were removed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, not the ED.

The ED had conducted searches at I-PAC’s office located in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area, the residence of its head Pratik Jain, and a trader's office in the Posta neighborhood, as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering.

I-PAC, or the Indian Political Action Committee, has been instrumental in managing the TMC's election campaigns, including those for the 2021 Assembly elections.

During the search, Banerjee visited Jain’s residence around noon and remained there for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. She emerged with a green file, alleging that ED officials were 'taking away' party documents ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

The state is anticipated to hold elections in the next three to four months.

In response to the raids, both the TMC and I-PAC approached the Calcutta High Court to contest the legality of the searches.

The ED also filed a petition, claiming 'illegal interference' during its operations.

During the court session on Wednesday, it was noted that records from the searches indicated that no documents were confiscated from either the I-PAC office or Jain’s residence.

With these findings, the court stated, 'In view of such submissions, nothing remains to be dealt with and the application is disposed of,' as quoted by a legal news source.

The ED had requested to postpone its petition regarding alleged interference by Banerjee during the searches, citing a similar case filed with the Supreme Court.

The High Court granted this request.

The ED's petition to the Supreme Court seeks an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into Banerjee for allegedly obstructing its raids and demands the return of documents and electronic materials she is accused of taking.

Additionally, the West Bengal government has approached the Supreme Court to ensure that no ex parte orders are issued without a hearing.

The ED stated that its searches were based on a first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation regarding an alleged coal smuggling operation that involved the illegal excavation of coal from Eastern Coalfields Limited leasehold areas in West Bengal.

In a related development, the West Bengal Police registered first information reports against the ED following two complaints lodged by Banerjee.

Banerjee alleged that the ED was seizing TMC’s 'documents and hard disks, which contain details about our party candidates' for the elections.