Supreme Court on Mamata Banerjee’s presence at I-PAC office during ED raid: ‘Not a happy situation’

Before moving the Supreme Court, the ED had approached the Calcutta High Court seeking registration of an FIR against Mamata Banerjee for allegedly “obstructing” its search operations.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's presence at the IPAC offices during the raid by the Enforcement Directorate is not a "happy situation".

According to a report by NDTV, the court also questioned if the central agency can be left without a remedy in such "unusual" events.

"What if tomorrow some other Chief Minister barges into such a raid? Can the ED be left without remedy?" said the bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and NV Anjaria, which was hearing a petition by the ED.

The ED has alleged that Banerjee and state officials interfered with its investigation and search operations at the offices of I-PAC, which is associated with the All India Trinamool Congress.

The CM had alleged that the raid, which took place ahead of the state assembly election on January 8, is politically motivated and engineered by the BJP.

In January, the court issued notice on ED's plea and stayed further proceedings in the West Bengal FIRs lodged against the ED officials, observing that the matter raised a serious issue which required examination to avoid a possible “situation of lawlessness” in the state. The court also directed the state to preserve CCTV footage and other electronic material relating to the January 8 search.