NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reprimanded West Bengal government for objecting to the validity of Enforcement Directorate’s plea over alleged obstruction by chief minister Mamata Banerjee during a raid on I-PAC.The top court observed that no entity can be left without a remedy under the Constitution.A bench of justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and NV Anjaria asked how the central probing agency would seek legal recourse if it is not allowed to approach courts.“If the ED, according to you, cannot file a writ petition under Article 32, then surely it cannot approach the high court under Article 226 either. Where will they go? There cannot be a vacuum,” the top court said.
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The bench also pulled up Mamata over the allegation of obstructing the officials during the raid and said that it raises larger constitutional concerns.Appearing for the state, senior advocate Shyam Divan argued that the ED is not a juristic entity and therefore cannot file writ petitions.He said only the Union of India has the authority to initiate such proceedings and warned that allowing departments to independently invoke writ jurisdiction could disrupt the federal structure. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mamata, also contended that the ED cannot seek directions for a CBI probe into the alleged obstruction.This comes as the central agency, in its plea, sought registration of an FIR against Banerjee and police officials. It has also challenged an FIR filed by the West Bengal Police against its officers.Earlier, on January 15, the top court had termed the alleged obstruction “very serious” and stayed FIRs against ED officials who conducted the raid. It also directed the West Bengal Police to preserve CCTV footage of the operation.The court had also issued notices to Banerjee, the West Bengal government, former DGP Rajeev Kumar, and other senior police officials on the ED’s plea seeking a CBI probe into the alleged obstruction.
