Supreme Court Rebukes Mamata Banerjee for Intervening in ED Raid at I-PAC Office, Calls It an Assault on Democracy

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday delivered a sharp rebuke to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her alleged interference during an Enforcement Directorate raid at the residence of the I-PAC director in Kolkata, describing the incident as a direct threat to the country’s democratic framework.

A bench of Justices PK Mishra and NV Anjaria pulled no punches while addressing counsels representing the West Bengal administration which includes the Chief Minister and other senior state officials stating that while legal arguments on abstract principles are welcome in court, the ground realities unfolding in the state cannot be ignored.

“This is not a dispute between the state and the union. We never thought that in this country, a day will come where a sitting CM will walk in to the office where some investigating agency is,” the bench observed, according to news agency ANI. “The chief minister of any state cannot walk in in the midst of an investigation, put the democracy in peril, and then say that ‘don’t convert this into a dispute between the state and the union’. This is per se an act committed by an individual who happens to be the chief minister keeping the whole democracy in jeopardy.”

The court also referenced another pending matter the alleged gherao incident in the SIR case where judicial officers were reportedly held hostage, underlining what it termed an “extraordinary situation” in the poll-bound state.

“Before the other Bench, we have seen that several judicial officers have been kept hostage. We cannot shut our eyes to realities. You may argue abstract legal principles, but we cannot lose sight of the practical situation occurring in the state,” the bench remarked.

The controversy erupted after Banerjee allegedly entered the premises mid-raid and was accused of facilitating the removal of files connected to I-PAC the political consultancy widely reported to be managing the Trinamool Congress’s election campaign.

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The ED had conducted simultaneous searches across multiple locations in Kolkata and Delhi as part of a probe into alleged financial irregularities linked to the organisation. The agency has maintained that the searches are evidence-based and form part of a routine investigation, clarifying that no party office was searched and that the action bears no connection to any electoral process or political establishment.

(With inputs from ANI)