The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and political consultancy firm I-PAC on Thursday moved the Calcutta High Court over the central agency's searches at the office and residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain. The ED moved the court alleging interference in its investigation, while I-PAC challenged the legality of the searches.

The move comes hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Jain's residence in south Kolkata and I-PAC’s office in Salt Lake amid an ongoing ED raid. Banerjee alleged that the central agency was attempting to seize the Trinamool Congress's internal documents, hard disks, and sensitive data related to the party’s election strategy.

While the ED approached the court alleging interference in its investigation, I-PAC has contested the authority of the searches. Justice Suvra Ghosh, before whom the matters were mentioned, is expected to take them up for hearing on Friday.

On Thursday, the ED alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee entered the residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain in Kolkata during a raid in connection with a money-laundering case linked to alleged coal smuggling, and removed “key” evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices.

The ED's lawyer drew the attention of the court of Justice Suvra Ghosh seeking permission to file the petition alleging interference in its investigation. The agency sought the HC's intervention into the matter so as to ensure that it was allowed to conduct the probe without hindrance.

The central agency stated that the searches were conducted in a peaceful and professional manner, based on evidence, and were not targeted at any political organisation. I-PAC, apart from serving as a political consultancy for the Trinamool Congress (TMC), also oversees the party’s IT and media operations.

The ED further claimed that following the arrival of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee entered the residential premises of Prateek Jain, and took away key evidences including physical documents and electronic devices accompanied by a large number of police officials, the search operation was disrupted.

In a statement, the federal probe agency also accused Banerjee of subsequently proceeding to the I-PAC office in Salt Lake, from where she, her aides, and the state police “forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence”.

The ED said raids were being carried out on 10 premises, six in West Bengal and four in Delhi, as part of a 2020 case registered by the CBI against a coal smuggling syndicate led by Anup Majhi alias ‘Lala', who allegedly stole and illegally excavated coal from the Eastern Coalfield leasehold areas in and around Asansol in Bengal's Paschim Bardhaman district.

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During the course of the searches, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited one of the raided locations. The ED later claimed, "Certain persons, including constitutional functionaries, have come to 2 premises (out of 10), intruded illegally by misusing their position and snatched away the documents."

According to the agency, Banerjee entered the residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain during a raid connected to a money laundering investigation related to alleged coal smuggling. The ED alleged that “key” evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices, was taken away. It further claimed that the proceedings remained peaceful and professional until the Chief Minister arrived with a large contingent of police personnel.

A hawala operator linked to coal smuggling facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees to the Indian PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd, the registered company of political consultancy firm I-PAC.

“IPAC is also one of the entities linked to Hawala money,” the ED alleged. The proceedings were being conducted peacefully and professionally till the time Mamata Banerjee arrived with a large number of police officers, the ED statement said.

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CM Mamata Banerjee's Sharp Attack On BJP

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the ED raids at I-PAC’s Kolkata office. Accusing the federal agency of seizing party documents, she warned that the BJP’s state office could also face similar action.

Banerjee alleged that the ED was attempting to access the TMC’s internal strategy, candidate lists and confidential digital data, asserting that such material had no relevance to any financial investigation.

She claimed the raids were politically motivated and carried out ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state to gather information about her party.

Describing the action as intimidation, Banerjee said, "Is it the duty of the ED, Amit Shah to collect the party's hard disk, candidate list?... The nasty, naughty Home Minister who cannot protect the country and is taking away all my party documents. What will be the result if I raid the BJP party office? On one side, they are deleting the names of all the voters by carrying out the SIR in West Bengal...Because of the elections, they are collecting all the information about my party," the Chief Minister said.

The TMC chief further alleged that ED teams copied data from the party’s hard disk and seized several documents during the raid.

"I heard that ED's Forensic Team had come and they transferred some data. They took our hard disk, our financial papers, political papers... BJP has lakhs and crores of property, but CBI and ED have not caught anyone," she said.

Banerjee also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rein in the Home Minister and adopt democratic means to challenge the TMC.

"I am sorry Mr. Prime Minister, please control your Home Minister... If you (BJP) cannot fight with us, then why are you coming to Bengal? Defeat us in a democratic way. You are using agencies to loot our papers, our strategy, our voters, our data, our Bengal... By doing all this, the number of seats you were getting will be reduced to zero," she added.

She announced that TMC workers would stage protests across West Bengal against the raids.

Responding to the allegations, the Enforcement Directorate reiterated that the searches were linked to an investigation into illegal coal smuggling.

"The search is evidence-based and is not targeted at any political establishment. The search is ongoing at 10 places (6 in West Bengal and 4 in Delhi). The case relates to illegal coal smuggling. The search covers various premises linked to the generation of cash, hawala transfer, etc., in that case. No party office has been searched. The search is not linked to any elections and is part of a regular crackdown on money laundering," the agency said.

"The search is conducted strictly in accordance with established legal safeguards. Certain persons, including constitutional functionaries, have come to 2 premises (out of 10), intruded illegally by misusing their position and snatched away the documents", it added.

( With PTI Inputs )