The State of West Bengal has told the Supreme Court that the searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate on the premises of political consultancy firm Indian Pac Consulting Private Limited (I-PAC) were not obstructed and the central agency's panchnama itself reveals this fact . Responding to the plea in Supreme Court, West Bengal government has filed a counter affidavit questioning maintainability of ED’s writ.
Further, the Article 32 petition filed by ED against the State government alleging obstruct to ED searches is not maintainable since Article 32 can be invoked only by citizens against government agencies for violation of fundamental rights.An instrumentality of the State like ED cannot claim violation of fundamental rights, the State has contended.The stand has been taken in four separate counter-affidavits filed by the State government, the Director General of Police, West Bengal, the Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Division, in response to the ED’s Article 32 petition concerning the searches at the IPAC office in Salt Lake and a residence of co-founder Pratik Jain at Loudon Street.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had entered the I-PAC office and the residence of its co-founder on January 8 while the ED was conducting searches in connection with a money-laundering probe.Banerjee is alleged to have removed several documents and electronic devices from the premises. She claimed that the material contained information pertaining to her political party. According to reports, I-PAC has been associated with the Trinamool Congress since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The ED has maintained that the searches were part of its investigation into a 2020 money-laundering case registered against businessman Anup Majee, who is accused of involvement in coal smuggling.As per the petition, the intervention resulted in the removal of crucial physical and electronic material connected to the investigation and prevented officers from carrying out their duties in accordance with the law.It said that a CBI probe should be ordered.
The DGP has stated that his role was limited to coordinating security and public order arrangements, particularly after information was received that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be visiting the area. He has said that she is an Z plus protectee and that security deployment was necessary.The Deputy Commissioner of Police of South Division has similarly stated that his role was confined to Loudon Street and that the ED has wrongly clubbed two separate incidents under different police commissionerates into one narrative.
He has said that ED officers later disclosed their identity and requested him to accompany them inside the premises only for the limited purpose of verifying search authorisation.
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