- By Shubham Bajpai
- Tue, 24 Mar 2026 05:41 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday reprimanded West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the I-PAC hearing case, countering her with a hypothetical situation asking if her government were at the Centre and if some other political party did the same at the state level.
The top court was hearing an Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea against CM Mamata over alleged interference in the search operations conducted against the political consultancy firm I-PAC.
The court also asked if ED loses its right while on duty. The apex court said, "Please concentrate on the fundamental right of the officers of the ED against whom the offence has been committed. Otherwise, you will miss the point," Justice Mishra remarked.
The top court also questioned the objections raised by the Bengal government over the maintainability of the plea moved under Article 32.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, arguing for Bengal, emphasised that invoking Article 32 does not fall under the jurisdiction of ED. He said that if a public officer has been obstructed from performing his duties, he can launch a prosecution for the obstruction of his right to discharge his functions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
"Any obstruction in the performance of a statutory duty is not in violation of a fundamental right. If someone obstructs a police officer, he can't file a petition under Article 32. There is a statutory remedy. Otherwise, every police officer will file a petition under Article 32. We can't interpret a law in the context of a particular situation and then open a Pandora's box inconsistent with the basic features of criminal law," Sibal argued.
He argued that in case of obstruction, the ED can reach out to the State police for an investigation into the matter. On this, Justice Mishra asked if it would be appropriate for ED to seek a remedy from the state government when the allegations are against the State government itself.