The Supreme Court has slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly obstructing Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches at the Kolkata offices of political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its director Pratik Jain.
A bench of justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and NV Anjaria observed that Banerjee's actions put 'the whole democracy in jeopardy' and went beyond a routine Centre-state dispute.
The court noted that even constitutional thinkers like BR Ambedkar and HM Seervai would not have envisioned a situation where a sitting chief minister intervenes during an ongoing search by a central agency.
The ED had sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged obstruction, which the court described as 'extraordinary' and requiring it to account for 'socio-political realities'.
The bench questioned whether every such plea must be referred to a constitution bench and pushed back against arguments that ED should have pursued remedies before a magistrate.
The controversy traces back to January 8, when Banerjee entered I-PAC premises and Jain's residence during ED searches linked to a money laundering probe arising from a 2020 coal smuggling case.
The case has since escalated into a wider institutional confrontation, with the ED invoking Article 32 -- a move the state has argued is constitutionally impermissible for a government agency.
