Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee accuses ED of misleading Supreme Court in coal scam probe
NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress MP and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday strongly criticised the Enforcement Directorate, alleging that it had misled the Supreme Court of India in connection with the I-PAC issue linked to the alleged coal smuggling money laundering case.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday evening, hours after the Supreme Court issued notice on the ED’s plea against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior police officers, including Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar, Abhishek Banerjee termed the development a “very serious issue”. The Diamond Harbour MP alleged, “The Central investigating agency has raised some misleading facts against the Chief Minister in the apex court. Truth will come out.”
“Genuine facts in connection with the ED raids on 8 January will be produced before the court in coming days and then the court will decide,” Abhishek said while reacting to the developments in the Supreme Court on the case filed by the investigating agency on the I-PAC issue.
He said hearings in the matter are still underway and the legal battle will continue in the coming days. He also raised questions over the ED’s search operations conducted at the Salt Lake office of I-PAC, a political consultancy firm associated with the Trinamool Congress, and at the Kolkata residence of Pratik Jain, a director of the private agency.
“Why do they raid in the name of I-PAC only in Bengal? We have also several information related to the raids carried out by the ED and they may not have escape route if we file defamation case against them in future,” he said.
Addressing reporters, Abhishek further said, “You can also verify ED panchnama (record) whether the Chief Minister has taken away any documents during the search operations. What prompted the investigative agency to rush to the Supreme Court within 24 hours after they moved the Calcutta High Court?”
Later in the day, Abhishek Banerjee launched a health camp at Nandigram in East Midnapore district, the constituency from where Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari contested on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket and defeated Mamata Banerjee in the 2021 Assembly elections.