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NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has decided to move Supreme Court seeking remedy against the “unfortunate action of West Bengal chief minister” in obstructing the probe and tampering with evidence in a PMLA case against I-PAC, and a nod to continue with its probe against the political consultancy agency. The petition is likely to be filed late in the night or early Sunday morning. Lawyers aware of the developments told TOI that ED has, in its petition, accused the West Bengal police of actively acting under the directions of the TMC govt to thwart the probe into the money laundering case against I-PAC, by an FIR against the directorate officials to coerce them not to conduct investigations in the case.
ED is trying to get the petition listed for Monday amid indications that the solicitor general may represent it if the Supreme Court entertains the plea. The West Bengal govt has already filed a caveat in SC to preempt ED from seeking and getting an ex parte order, amid its continuing political slugfest with central agencies which began with the state govt in Nov 2018, withdrawing general consent to CBI to investigate cases inside the state. ED, it is learnt, has argued that its attempt to raise its grievances before Calcutta HC was unsuccessful as unruly scenes during the hearing on Friday forced the judge to adjourn hearing on a case which required urgent interim orders to protect the sanctity of investigations. Multiple FIRs filed ‘in malicious manner’ against officers: ED The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also contemplating requesting Supreme Court to transfer the pending petitions, one by ED and the other by Trinamool Congress relating to I-PAC case, to Delhi high court to be in an atmosphere conducive to adjudication by a constitutional court. The agency had petitioned Calcutta high court on Friday to order a CBI probe against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, DGP Rajeev Kumar, Kolkata Police commissioner Manoj Varma and others for “theft of digital and other evidence, wrongful restraint and confinement of central govt officers, and breakdown of the rule of law”. It said that multiple FIRs had been registered “in a malicious manner” against its officers for conducting an investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) into the financial dealings of political consultancy I-PAC, which has been associated with TMC and the Bengal govt for years. The 28-page petition, filed in response to Mamata and the police brass’s allegedly “illegal and unconstitutional interference” in ED’s search of addresses linked to I-PAC, details how the Bengal CM and her entourage tailed the central agency throughout Thursday – from the Loudon Street residence of the firm’s director Pratik Jain to its office in the tech hub of Salt Lake’s Sector V. The petition alleges that Mamata entered Jain’s residence around 12.05pm and “took possession of all digital devices along with key incriminating documents” from an ED officer, ignoring requests not to interfere with the investigation into I-PAC’s alleged role in money laundering linked to a 2020 coal scam. At I-PAC’s Salt Lake office, ED officers were “obstructed” while performing their duties as the CM and a contingent of Trinamool functionaries and workers refused to budge from there for nearly four hours, the petition stated. Countering the CM’s allegation that Union home minister Amit Shah had sent ED to “snatch” documents and digital storage containing Trinamool Congress’s poll plans under the garb of an investigation into I-PAC’s dealings, ED informed the high court that its officials officially recorded the sequence of events in a panchnama.
