ED seeks Calcutta HC's permission to file petition over obstruction after Mamata Banerjee showed up during I-PAC raids

After West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee pulled up to the residence of Pratik Jain on Thursday, where Enforcement Directorate was conducting a raid in connection to a money laundering probe, the probe agency reached out to the Calcutta High Court to seek permission for filing a petition alleging interference in its investigation, reported news agency PTI.

Enforcement Directorate said that it conducted raids at as many as 10 locations on Thursday, six in West Bengal and four in Delhi, in connection with a money laundering probe in West Bengal, which included office of top political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and the residence of its co-founder and director Pratik Jain, both in Kolkata.

I-PAC does political consultancy for West Bengal's ruling party Trinamool Congress and also looks after its IT and media cell.

Amid high drama, Mamata Banerjee turned up to Jain's place in south Kolkata during the raid and alleged that the probe agency was attempting to seize her party's sensitive documents and hard drives which contained information about the party's election strategy.

The probe agency alleged that Banerjee entered Jain's home during the raid and took with her key evidences such as physical documents and electronic devices.

It also alleged that after Jain's residence, Banerjee went to I-PAC's office in Salt Lakh with her aides and police and “forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence” from there.

ED said that Banerjee's actions, along with the Kolkata Police commissioner who was also present when she came to Jain's residence, led to “obstructions” in the ongoing probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

It also denied Banerjee's claims of the raids being politically motivated and said, “it is clarified that the search is evidence-based and not targeted at any political establishment. No party office has been searched."

“The search is not linked to any elections, and is part of a regular crackdown on money laundering. It is conducted strictly in accordance with the established legal safeguards,” the ED said.