The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's interruption of a raid conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was not a 'happy situation'.
The central investigating agency cannot be left remediless when its functioning is interrupted, said the SC, reported Bar and Bench.
The Supreme Court was hearing a writ petition by the ED over the interference of CM Mamata Banerjee in the raid of the I-PAC office, which is the political consultant of the Trinamool Congress.
The bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and NV Anjaria, which was hearing a petition by the Enforcement Directorate, said, "What if tomorrow some other Chief Minister barges into such a raid? Can the ED be left without remedy?"
The bench also responded to the state's argument that the central agency cannot invoke Article 32 of the Constitution, which is a remedy for citizens against government agencies and not the other way around.
"But in a case like this, can Article 226 (petition before High Court) be maintainable? Can ED move under Article 226 if Article 32 petition is not maintainable?" the Bench asked.
The agency called Banerjee's move a 'gross abuse of power' and also demanded that a police case be filed against the CM and officials involved.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the state, said that a department of the central government filing a petition against the state government will be "dangerous to the federal structure".
He added that probe agencies like the CBI, Narcotics Control Bureau, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, and Serious Fraud Investigation Office do not have the right to sue a state government.
Mamata Banerjee, on January 8, entered the I-PAC office and the residence of its co-founder while the ED raids were going on in relation to the money laundering probe.
It is alleged that she removed several documents and electronic devices from the premises, which she later claimed to contain information related to her political party.
The searches by ED were part of its investigation into a 2020 money laundering case registered against businessman Anup Majee.