I-PAC raids: Calcutta HC disposes of TMC’s petition
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday disposed of the TMC’s petition praying for protection of its data, saying the ED has informed that it has not seized anything from I-PAC director Pratik Jain’s office and home during its raids last week. ED sought the adjournment of its petition against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, citing that the matter is listed before the Supreme Court on Thursday. According to the cause list of the apex court, a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Vipul Pancholi is likely to hear the matter.
TMC had moved the court seeking an order for preservation of personal and political data that may have been seized by the ED during its raids on these two premises on January 8. Representing the ED, additional solicitor general SV Raju stated before the court that the agency had not seized anything from these two sites. The ASG submitted that whatever the agency had seized was taken away by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Disposing of TMC’s petition, Justice Suvra Ghosh observed that in view of the submissions made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Union of India, nothing further remained to be adjudicated in the matter. The court also adjourned a separate petition filed by the ED seeking a CBI probe into the events of January 8, when Banerjee visited the political consultancy firm’s office in Salt Lake and its director’s residence on Loudon Street in south Kolkata during the raids.
The High Court adjourned the central agency’s plea on the ground that the ED has filed two special leave petitions before the Supreme Court with prayers “which are almost identical with the present application before it.” He argued that when a similar issue is pending before the apex court, a high court should refrain from hearing a matter on the same subject.
TMC’s counsel Menaka Guruswamy submitted that political parties have a right to privacy, as upheld by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. Banerjee had visited the agency’s operation venues on January 8 and alleged that investigators were attempting to seize sensitive data of the TMC ahead of the upcoming assembly polls. Following the developments, both the TMC and the ED had approached the High Court. While the TMC in its writ petition sought judicial intervention to restrain the ED from “prejudice, misuse and dissemination” of seized data during the search operations, the agency moved the court alleging interference in its investigation, and prayed for transferring the probe to the CBI.
The ED has named Banerjee and some State officials as respondents in its petition, while the TMC petition was filed against the Union of India. Justice Ghosh heard the matters with restricted courtroom entry, allowing only lawyers connected with the cases. The direction to hold the hearings with regulated entry was given by Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul on Tuesday in view of unmanageable chaos inside the courtroom of Justice Ghosh on January 9, when these matters were to be taken up for hearing. Justice Ghosh had adjourned the hearing till January 14, and left her chair after repeated requests to those not connected with the petitions to leave the courtroom fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is slated to hear on Thursday a plea moved by ED alleging interference and obstruction by the West Bengal Government, including by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in its probe and search operation at the I-PAC office and the premises of its director, Pratik Jain, in connection with an alleged coal-pilferage scam. The West Bengal Government has also filed a caveat in the top court, seeking that no order should be passed without hearing it in connection with the ED raids against the political-consultancy firm I-PAC last week.
