The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned till 10 February the hearing on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) accusing the West Bengal government, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar and other officials of obstructing the agency’s search operations at the office of political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) in Kolkata.
A Bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi deferred the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, sought time to respond to the counter-affidavit filed by the State of West Bengal earlier in the day.
Mehta submitted that the ED had received the state’s response only on Tuesday and required time to examine it and file a rejoinder. Accepting the request, the Bench listed the matter for further hearing on 10 February.
The ED’s petition arises from searches conducted on 8 January at the I-PAC office and at the residence of its co-founder, Pratik Jain, in connection with the coal scam money-laundering probe.
The agency alleged that its officials were obstructed during the operation and that the Chief Minister, accompanied by senior party leaders, reached the premises and confronted ED officers.
The ED further alleged that certain files were taken away during the raid, which, according to it, impeded the investigation and had an intimidating effect on its officers.