The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday moved the Calcutta High Court seeking judicial directions in connection with searches carried out at premises linked to the political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC). The agency has alleged that its search proceedings were disrupted, prompting it to seek the court’s intervention.
Sources familiar with the matter said the searches were carried out at six premises linked to the company in Kolkata and four locations in Delhi, including the residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain. According to officials of the Enforcement Directorate, the search at Jain’s residence encountered what they described as resistance, a claim that remains contested and is now subject to judicial scrutiny.
The agency has further submitted that developments at the search locations changed after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the premises along with senior officials of the state police. According to the ED, its officers faced difficulties in continuing the proceedings thereafter, leading the agency to raise concerns regarding the conduct of the search and the preservation of materials considered relevant to the investigation.
Mamata Banerjee has publicly rejected the allegations, describing the searches as politically motivated and asserting that investigators were attempting to seize confidential political material belonging to the ruling party. She has maintained that her intervention was aimed at preventing what she termed an overreach by central agencies. The ruling Trinamool Congress has echoed this position, accusing the Centre of misusing investigative institutions for political purposes.
The High Court has admitted the ED’s petition and is expected to take up the matter shortly. Separately, I-PAC and its representatives have also approached the court challenging the legality of the searches. Legal observers say the outcome of the proceedings may help clarify the scope of executive authority during operations carried out by central investigative agencies and could have wider implications for Centre-state relations.
