New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday reserved its order on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and registration of an FIR against former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior police officials over alleged interference in search operations at the office of political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) in Kolkata.
A Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and N.V. Anjaria reserved its order on the limited question of whether the matter should be referred to the CBI or left to the newly elected West Bengal government to decide on the investigation.
During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Banerjee, argued that with a change in the government in West Bengal, there was no longer any impediment to a state-level decision on transferring the investigation to the CBI.
He questioned the need for a judicial direction, submitting that the state government was competent to refer the matter to the Central agency on its own.
The Justice Mishra-led Bench also questioned why the West Bengal government could not refer the matter to the CBI in the changed circumstances, observing that the situation prevailing at the time the ED approached the top court might no longer exist.
However, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, appearing for the ED, opposed leaving the matter to the state government, arguing that such a course could invite allegations of mala fide action.
ASG Raju submitted that the matter involved allegations against not only the former Chief Minister but also senior police officers, making it necessary to ensure an independent and fair investigation.
He further argued that since cross-cases were involved, the investigation should be entrusted to a single agency to ensure that both sides of the dispute were examined together.
The Centre’s law officer maintained that an independent investigation was necessary to address concerns about the fairness of the probe and prevent allegations of collusion between the ED and the state government.
The Justice Mishra-led Bench observed that Sibal’s argument was that the state government could itself transfer the case to the CBI, without requiring an order from the Supreme Court.
Responding to the submissions, Raju said the ED had approached the apex court seeking an independent investigation and that leaving the decision to the state government could give rise to further controversy over the manner in which the case was handled.
The arguments concluded with the Supreme Court reserving its order on the limited issue.
The matter arises from search operations conducted by the ED January 8 at the I-PAC office and the residence of its co-founder, Pratik Jain, in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged coal smuggling scam.
The federal anti-money laundering agency has claimed that Banerjee, accompanied by police personnel and senior officials, entered the premises while the searches were underway and interfered with the investigation.
The ED has sought registration of FIRs against Banerjee, the then West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar and the then Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma, among others, besides seeking transfer of the probe to the CBI.
Banerjee has denied the allegations, maintaining that she visited the premises to retrieve confidential and proprietary data belonging to the Trinamool Congress, which she claimed was linked to the party’s electoral strategy.
On January 15, the Supreme Court stayed FIRs registered by the West Bengal Police against ED officials in connection with the searches and directed the preservation of CCTV footage and other digital records relating to the premises.
Earlier, the apex court had orally observed that alleged interference by a sitting Chief Minister in an ongoing investigation could put democracy “in peril”.
