SC Adjourns ED Plea Alleging Obstruction By Mamata Govt
A Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and K.V. Viswanathan deferred the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that a rejoinder would be filed: Reports
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned to March 18 the hearing on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleging obstruction by the West Bengal government, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during search operations at the office of I-PAC and the residence of its director in connection with a coal pilferage-linked money laundering probe.
A Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and K.V. Viswanathan deferred the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that a rejoinder would be filed.
On January 15, the court had termed the alleged obstruction of the ED’s probe as “very serious” and agreed to examine whether a state’s law enforcement agencies can interfere with an investigation by a Central agency into serious offences. It had also stayed FIRs lodged against ED officials who conducted searches at I-PAC’s premises on January 8 and directed the state police to preserve CCTV footage of the raids.
The court had issued notices to the Chief Minister, the West Bengal government, Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar and other senior officers on the ED’s petitions seeking a CBI probe into the alleged obstruction.
The ED has alleged that Banerjee entered the search premises and removed key evidence, including documents and electronic devices, thereby interfering with the investigation and intimidating officers.
The searches were conducted on January 8 at the premises of I-PAC and its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata as part of the agency’s probe into the alleged multi-crore coal pilferage scam.
