Kolkata: The Calcutta High Magistrate has dismissed a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleging that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had seized the party’s files and sensitive data during raids on I-PAC premises in Kolkata.
What happened during the hearing?
The inside organ Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the ruling Trinamool Congress party of West Bengal have filed separate petitions in this case. The hearing could not take place on the previous date, January 9, due to unconnectedness and overcrowding in the court. Justice Shubhra Ghosh had then stock-still today's stage for the hearing.
During the hearing, the ED personal that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a dramatic entry during the raid at the house of I-PAC director Prateek Jain and obstructed official work. The ED so-called that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went to the raided locations and took yonder crucial evidence. On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee personal that the ED raids were illegal and the investigating organ had crossed all limits. During this time, the Trinamool Congress appealed to the magistrate for the protection of its election-related data seized by the ED.
What request did the ED put surpassing the Calcutta High Court?
The ED requested that the hearing be postponed, citing a petition filed in the Supreme Court. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju, seeming for the ED, informed the magistrate that the organ has filed two petitions in the Supreme Court. Therefore, the High Magistrate should not hear the case.
"This matter may go to the Supreme Court. Therefore, the hearing of this specimen should be postponed. The sky will not fall if the hearing does not take place today," he argued.
What questions did the ED put surpassing I-PAC?
ASG Raju moreover questioned the sparsity of I-PAC during the hearing in the High Court. He emphasized that the political consultancy firm should have been present in court.
“The unshortened petition is based on election-related arguments, not on any violation of rights. If someone's data was seized from their home, they should have come to court. I-PAC should have come here,” he said.
What is the case?
On January 8, during raids at the premises of IPAC director Pratik Jain in Kolkata, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) search locations and so-called that the Directorate's investigators were trying to seize sensitive party data superiority of the turnout elections scheduled in a few months. The inside investigative organ moreover accused Banerjee of removing documents from the scene.
Both the Trinamool Congress and the ED have filed petitions in the High Magistrate regarding the raids. The Trinamool Congress sought judicial intervention to prevent the organ from "prejudicing, misusing, and disseminating" the data seized during the search operation, while the ED, alleging interference in its investigation, prayed for the events of January 8 to be investigated by the CBI.
