I-PAC raid case, hearing in Supreme Court postponed: Now on February 10; The court said that the Bengal government should not interfere in the work of the ED

The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing of the raid on the Kolkata office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC). The hearing will now be held on February 10. The raid was conducted on January 8 in connection with the coal smuggling scam. The ED has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the West Bengal government in this matter. It is alleged that during the raid, CM Mamata reached the spot along with Bengal Police officials and left with evidence. In the hearing on January 14, a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Vipul Pancholi said that the government should not interfere in the work of the ED. Let the agency do its job. The court also stayed the FIR filed against the ED officials. The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Bengal government and sought its response within 2 weeks. On February 2, the state government, in response to the notice, said the agency's plea was not maintainable. Since such a case is already pending in the Calcutta High Court, the two constitutional courts cannot proceed simultaneously. The Supreme Court said that there are some big questions in this matter, if not answered, chaos can spread. If central agencies are doing their job honestly to investigate a serious crime, can they be stopped by politicising them? The state government said in its reply that the ED does not have the fundamental right to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court. The ED had on January 8 conducted raids at the residence of Trinamool Congress (TMC) IT head and director of political consultancy firm (I-PAC) Prateek Jain and places associated with the company. The investigating agency alleges that during this time, CM Mamata reached there along with Bengal Police officials and left with evidence. January 14: ED's 3 big arguments in the Supreme Court... The BJP said that today Mamata Banerjee has received a big jolt from the Supreme Court. This has proved what jungle raj is like. The state government should help the investigating agency, but Mamata Banerjee took the files. Those who think they are above the Constitution. This will not work anymore. The Supreme Court has stayed the FIR filed by West Bengal against ED officials. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the residence and office of I-PAC director Prateek Jain in connection with a Rs 2,742 crore money laundering case related to coal smuggling. The CBI had filed an FIR in the case on November 27, 2020. The ED began its probe on November 28, 2020. The matter is now in its fifth year, but the action came at a time when elections in Bengal are due in March-April 2026. I-PAC is a political consultancy firm in India that undertakes large-scale election campaigns for political parties. It is alleged that Rs 20 crore was transferred to I-PAC through hawala. The ED has filed a petition in the Supreme Court, stating that the state government obstructed the investigation and destroyed evidence. January 14: Calcutta High Court rejects TMC's plea The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed TMC's plea in the I-PAC raid case. The party alleged that the probe agency raided Prateek Jain's office on January 8 and seized some papers. On this, the probe agency said that the agency has not seized anything from the party office.