Kolkata:
The tit-for-tat petitions filed by the Enforcement Directorate and West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress in connection with the raids on the party’s election consultancy firm I-PAC were dismissed by the Calcutta High Court today. The tussle will now continue in the Supreme Court, which will hear a petition from the Enforcement Directorate tomorrow.
The ED had gone to the High Court, alleging that Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had walked out with a laptop, phone and multiple documents from the house of Pratik Jain, the chief of I-PAC and their offices, during raids by the Enforcement Directorate.
The Trinamool Congress filed a counter-petition, alleging that the central agency has seized documents on the party’s strategy and ideology — a claim the ED has denied.
“The ED is bullying. They have stormed. They have searched,” TMC Counsel Menaka Guruswamy told the single-judge bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh today, to which ED counsel SV Raju said, “No need for drama”.
“We are not on caveat. We are not party in the SC case… In this matter, I want to make three points. One — we are not party in the Supreme Court. Two — data belonging to a political party was searched. We want our political data saved. Political data forms political ideology. Political jurisprudence is under question today. Three — We respectfully request our political data be returned,” Guruswamy said.
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