Supreme Court
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reacted sharply in the I-PAC raids matter, coming down heavily on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee over her alleged intervention during an Enforcement Directorate probe at the organisation’s director’s residence in Kolkata.The top court described the socio-political climate in the poll-bound state as an “extra-ordinary situation,” referring to the CM’s entry into the premises mid-raid and the alleged removal of files linked to I-PAC, which is said to be overseeing the TMC’s election campaign.The court called the situation concerning, observing that such an act by a sitting chief minister has put democracy in jeopardy.“This is not a dispute between the state and the union. We never thought that in this country, a day will come where a sitting CM will walk in to the office where some investigating agency is.The chief minister of any state cannot walk in in the midst of an investigation, put the democracy in peril, and then say that ‘don’t convert this into a dispute between the state and the union’. This is Per se an act committed by an individual who happens to be the chief minister keeping the whole democracy in jeopardy,” the court added.A bench of Justices PK Mishra and NV Anjaria told the counsels arguing on behalf of the West Bengal administration which includes the CM Mamata Banerjee and other senior officials, that they may argue on abstract legal principles but the Court cannot shut it’s eye over the practical realities going on in the State. “This is an extraordinary situation. Before the other Bench (referring to the gherao in the SIR case), we have seen that several judicial officers have been kept hostage. We cannot shut our eyes to realities. You may argue abstract legal principles, but we cannot lose sight of the practical situation occurring in the State”, the court remarked, according to news agency ANI.The ED raid turned into a political flashpoint when chief minster Mamata Banerjee stepped into the ongoing investigation and allegedly intervened in the proceedings by removing key evidence.The ED had carried out searches at multiple locations, including Kolkata and Delhi, as part of a probe into alleged financial irregularities linked to I-PAC.The agency has maintained that the action is part of a routine investigation and not politically motivated, saying that the search is evidence-based and not targeted at any political establishment, that no party office has been searched, and that it is not linked to any elections.The dramatic intervention by Mamata came, when she arrived at the residence of I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain during the ED raid.According to the agency, she, along with aides and police personnel, “forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence” and later went to the I-PAC office in Salt Lake, where similar actions were alleged.Visuals of Mamata carrying what came to be known as the “green file” sparked a nationwide debate.
