Supreme Court stays FIRs against ED officials, major setback for Mamata Banerjee

NEW DELHI: The Mamata Banerjee government suffered a major setback in its legal battle following the ED raid on the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) office. The Supreme Court stayed the case filed by the Kolkata Police against Enforcement Directorate officials. I-PAC is a political consultant for Mamata's Trinamool Congress.

A bench comprising Justices Prashant Mishra and Vipul Pancholi, after hearing the case, sought responses from the Home Ministry, the Union Department of Personnel and Training, Mamata Banerjee and the Bengal government on the petition filed by the ED in the Supreme Court seeking suspension of Bengal DGP Rajiv Kumar and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma. The court also sought responses on the demand for a CBI probe into the matter.

The Supreme Court said that, prima facie, there are serious matters in the ED's petition. The court said that the intervention of state agencies in the investigation is serious. “Big questions are remaining unanswered, which may lead to lawlessness. When central agencies are trying to investigate a serious crime, how can someone obstruct it?” the court asked.

The Supreme Court also expressed its deep concern over the chaos in the Calcutta High Court during the hearing of the case.

The ED said that during the Goa Assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress brought Rs 20 crore in black money to Panjim, which was smuggled through six people. The ED is investigating the role of I-PAC founder Pratik Jain in this case. It was part of this investigation that the ED raided the I-PAC office. The ED also alleged that Mamata Banerjee is directly obstructing the investigation. The next hearing in the case will be held on February 3.