New Delhi/Kolkata, Jan 10 The West Bengal government on Saturday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court in connection with the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) petition relating to the searches conducted at the Indian Political Action Committee’s (I-PAC) office and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain.
It was requested that the Supreme Court hear the state’s arguments before issuing any order in the matter, sources in the state secretariat said.
The ED has filed a case in the Calcutta High Court regarding the I-PAC matter and the hearing has been adjourned until January 14.
The state government filed the caveat in the Supreme Court to ensure that the ED’s arguments are not heard unilaterally.
The caveat was filed to ensure that the arguments of both sides are heard before the court passes any ex parte order. It is worth noting that in many cases, the Supreme Court issues orders after hearing only one side’s arguments.
However, if a caveat is filed, the Supreme Court is obligated to hear arguments from both sides.
On Thursday, the ED conducted searches at the office of Trinamool Congress’ political consultancy firm I-PAC and at the residence of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata in connection with the coal smuggling case. In 2020, the CBI filed an FIR in connection with the coal smuggling case.
Based on that FIR, the ED initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The central investigative agency is probing a case involving financial transactions worth approximately Rs 2,742 crore.
It has been alleged that a portion of this money was used for I-PAC’s activities through hawala transactions, particularly in Goa. In connection with the case, searches were conducted at 10 locations in Delhi and Kolkata, including Pratik Jain’s residence and the company’s office in Salt Lake Sector V.
The ED claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, with the help of police, took away incriminating documents from its custody during an authorised search. The ED also alleged that during the search, digital devices (laptops, mobile phones, hard drives) and important documents were forcibly seized by police.
According to the ED, this obstructed the investigation and the digital forensic work was halted midway. The ED further claimed that although officials entered the I-PAC office and began the search, they were prevented from continuing their work due to obstruction by state police.
Following this, the ED approached the Calcutta High Court on Friday, seeking a CBI investigation against the Chief Minister. The state government also filed a counter-case in the High Court. The High Court adjourned both the Trinamool Congress’ case and the ED’s case, and the hearing was postponed until January 14.
Both cases were scheduled to be heard on Friday before Justice Suvra Ghosh. However, due to a large crowd in the courtroom, Justice Ghosh adjourned the hearings of both cases until January 14.
The ED then approached the Acting Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court seeking to expedite the hearing of its case, but the application was not granted.
Thereafter, the ED filed a petition in the Supreme Court. The state government, in turn, filed a caveat in the apex court on Saturday.
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