The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday disposed of the petition filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) seeking protection of “private and confidential political data” after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the court that it did not seize anything during the January 8 raids at I-PAC’s office and its director’s residence.
After concluding the hearing, Justice Suvra Ghosh said, “The counsel for the respondents has submitted that nothing whatsoever was seized from the two premises by the authorities. The copies of the panchnamas drawn by the (ED) officers at the places of search demonstrate that nothing was seized from the office of I-PAC or the residence of its director. In view of such a submission, the matter is disposed of.”
The court also adjourned a separate petition filed by the ED seeking a CBI probe into the events of January 8, when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the political consultancy firm’s office in Salt Lake and its director’s residence on Loudon Street in south Kolkata during the raids and took away files and a laptop.
During Wednesday’s hearing, which was held only in the presence of lawyers connected to the case and was live-streamed, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the ED and Central government, said that the Supreme Court is already seized of the matter and the High Court should refrain from hearing a matter on the same subject.
“Two petitions are in the Supreme Court. We have made the same with some additional prayers in those petitions. Let the matter be adjourned as the petition is the same, and hear it after the hearing in the Supreme Court,” Raju told the Bench.
“The data was seized by (CM) Mamata Banerjee. We wanted to seize, but (Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee had seized the documents and electronic devices. We have not seized anything,” the ASG said.
Senior Advocate Dr Menaka Guruswamy, representing the TMC, however, submitted that it was an “extraordinary case of bullying”.
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“They first conduct the raid. Now, they do not want us to argue. We are not party to the ED application. We don’t know what the ED has filed before the Supreme Court. We have not moved any caveat. We (the TMC) want our political data to be safeguarded,” the TMC’s counsel said.
“There was a search. We do not know if anything has been seized,” the lawyer added.
“Our petition was of limited nature; of protecting political data of a well-established political party. We want free and fair elections. The political party’s data for six years is with I-PAC. So, we had fear. We thought political data was seized before the upcoming elections. If they are saying that nothing was seized, then the matter be disposed of and withdrawn,” the lawyer said.
Justice Ghosh, in his order said, “The ED has filed an SLP (Special Leave Petition) before the Supreme Court with prayers that are almost identical to the present application. The Supreme Court is in session. The matter is adjourned.”
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While the TMC in its writ petition sought judicial intervention to restrain the ED from “prejudice, misuse and dissemination” of seized data during the search operations, the agency moved the court alleging interference in its investigation, and prayed for transferring the probe to the CBI.
The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Thursday the ED’s plea, alleging interference and obstruction by the West Bengal government, including by CM Banerjee, in its probe and search operation at the I-PAC office and the premises of its director, Pratik Jain, in connection with an alleged coal smuggling scam.
The West Bengal government has also filed a caveat in the top court, seeking that no order should be passed without hearing it in connection with the ED raids against the political-consultancy firm.
Meanwhile, the BJP described the High Court’s decision as a “massive embarrassment” for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
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The “corruption” of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its “corrupt link” with the private company will “soon” be exposed, the BJP said, asserting that constitutional authorities cannot be intimidated by political theatrics and the High Court has made that amply clear.
BJP national spokesperson Sudhansu Trivedi said the court’s decision makes it clear that the TMC’s claim was “completely inappropriate” from both the judicial and constitutional points of view.
“This raises many questions. Mamata Banerjee must explain. This is the first time in the country’s history that a political party has come out in support of a private institution,” the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said.
Earlier in the day, the Registrar General of the Calcutta High Court issued a notice stating that only the counsels in the case would be allowed in the courtroom, and the entire proceedings would be live-streamed.
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Last Friday, when the Calcutta High Court was to hear the petitions of ED and the TMC, chaos and overcrowding in the courtroom of Justice Suvra Ghosh led to the matter being adjourned till January 14.
