The confrontation between the Enforcement Directorate and the Trinamool Congress escalated sharply on Friday, with the ED approaching the Calcutta High Court seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged role of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, senior police officials and others in “obstructing” raids at the offices of political consultancy firm I-PAC in Kolkata.
In its writ petition, accessed by news agency PTI, the ED sought directions for the “immediate seizure, sealing, forensic preservation and restoration to lawful custody” of digital devices, electronic records and documents that it claimed were “illegally and forcibly” taken away during the search operations conducted on Thursday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The high court is expected to hear the matter on Friday.
The searches were carried out at multiple locations, including I-PAC’s Salt Lake Sector V office and the Loudon Street residence of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata, apart from four premises in Delhi, in connection with an alleged coal smuggling-linked money laundering case. The ED has claimed that around Rs 20 crore in hawala funds generated from coal pilferage in West Bengal were routed to I-PAC, which has been providing political consultancy services to the TMC since 2021.
According to the ED, the searches were proceeding lawfully until Banerjee arrived at Jain’s residence with a large police contingent. The agency alleged that despite requests not to interfere, the chief minister and state police personnel “forcibly took possession” of key incriminating documents and electronic devices and later repeated the action at the I-PAC office. The petition also alleged that independent ‘panch’ witnesses were pressured into recording that nothing was recovered during the search.
The ED has sought interim orders restraining any access to, deletion or tampering with the seized data, arguing that its officials were prevented from performing their statutory duties.
The Trinamool Congress, however, moved the Calcutta High Court separately, seeking restraint on what it termed the “misuse and dissemination” of documents and electronic data seized during the raids. In its petition, the ruling party alleged that the ED had seized sensitive and confidential political material, including campaign strategy, organisational assessments and electoral roll-related data, which had no nexus with any proceeds of crime.
The TMC accused the central agency of acting with mala fide intent to disrupt a free and fair electoral process ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, claiming violations of its constitutional rights under Articles 19 and 21.
The political fallout spilled over into the national capital, where several TMC MPs were detained by Delhi Police while protesting outside the Home Ministry against the ED action. MPs including Derek O’Brien, Mahua Moitra, Satabdi Roy, Kirti Azad and others raised slogans alleging misuse of central agencies by the Centre before being taken to Parliament Street police station. Police said the protest was not permitted due to prohibitory orders and security concerns.
Banerjee, reacting to the raids on Thursday, had termed them “political vendetta” and accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of misusing constitutional agencies. “Is it the duty of the ED to collect a party’s hard disks and candidate lists?” she asked, daring Shah to “come to Bengal and fight democratically”.
Opposition leaders in West Bengal, including BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari and CPM state secretary Mohammad Salim, questioned the propriety and legality of the chief minister’s intervention during an ongoing central probe.
With both the ED and the TMC now locked in parallel legal battles before the Calcutta High Court, the episode has deepened the political and institutional standoff in the run-up to the high-stakes 2026 Assembly elections.
(With inputs from PTI)
