Supreme Court on Wednesday yet again reprimanded West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee while hearing the petition of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the I-PAC raid case. The Supreme Court observed that her act of walking into the midst of a central agency investigation was putting "democracy in jeopardy."

The case is linked to January 98, 2026, a raid by ED at the residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain and the firm's office in Kolkata in an ongoing investigation of an alleged coal-linked money laundering scam. During the ED raid, CM Mamata, accompanied by Kolkata Police Commissioner and other state police officials, entered the raided premises.

She took certain things while returning, accusing the Centre of misusing the central agencies to 'steal' TMC internal strategy and candidates' lists. The ED has accused her and the state police of "forcibly removing" digital services and documents.

Making a strong observation against CM Mamata's intervention, the apex court said, "This is not a dispute between the state and the union. A Chief Minister of any state cannot walk into the midst of an investigation, put the democracy in peril, and then say don't convert this into a dispute between the state and the Union".

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"This is per se an act committed by an individual who happens to be the Chief Minister, keeping the whole democracy in jeopardy," the top court emphasised.

"You have taken us through writings of Seervai, Ambedkar, but none of them would have conceived this situation in this country that one day a sitting Chief Minister will walk into the office during an ongoing investigation," the top court further observed.

SC's past observations against CM Mamata in I-PAC Case

This is not the first time that the top court has made a strong observation against CM Mamata in the case. In an earlier hearing on
March 24, the Supreme Court posed a hypothetical question to her, asking if she was at the Centre and if some other political party did the same at the state level.

"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," the court had said.

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During a March 18 hearing, the apex court had expressed strong displeasure over Mamata's presence at the I-PAC office during the ED raid. A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and NV Anjaria, while hearing the ED's petition, said that her presence at the raid site was not a "happy situation" and that the ED can't be left without remedy.