Supreme Court raps Mamata Banerjee, says can't put democracy in peril by interfering with ED probe: ‘You cannot…'

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 22 April, rebuked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly obstructing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the I-PAC office, saying the chief minister cannot put democracy in peril by interfering with the investigation by a central agency.

During the hearing, the court also commented that when a chief minister interferes with an ongoing investigation by a central agency, the case can no longer be termed as just a dispute between the central and state governments.

“You cannot walk in,” the bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice NV Anjaria said.

“What right of the state does this involve? This is not a dispute between the state and the central government. You cannot walk in. Any chief minister of any state walks in the midst of an inquiry of an investigation and you say that it is a dispute essentially between the state and the central government?” Justice Prashant Kumar said.

"Any minister just walks in midst of an enquiry, and you see make the democracy in peril and argues that it's a dispute essentially between the state and Centre?" Justice Prashant Kumar asked, according to a Live Law report.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has denied the ED's allegation of obstruction.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta argued that the chief minister also took some incriminating material during the ED raids.

The court said, “This is not, per se, 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 of a state, keeping the whole system and whole democracy in ...you are saying if all this can be maintainable, this cannot be maintained under Article 32 but only under Article 132...you have taken us through Keshavanand Bharati and Seervai. But none of them would have ever conceived of this situation then, that in this country a day will come when a sitting chief minister will walk into the office of some other agency.”

The ED vs Mamata Banerjee case

The Supreme Court is hearing a plea moved by the law enforcement agency alleging obstruction by the West Bengal government, including by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in its search operation at the I-PAC office and the premises of its director, Pratik Jain, in connection with an alleged coal pilferage scam.

In January, the court said the West Bengal chief minister's alleged “obstruction” in ED's probe is “very serious” while agreeing to examine if a state's law-enforcing agencies can interfere with any central agency's probe into any serious offence, as it stayed FIRs against the agency's officials who raided political consultancy I-PAC on 8 January.

What did ED allege?

The ED, in its plea, stated that Mamata Banerjee entered the site when the ED raid was happening and took away “key” evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices, alleging “interference”.

The ED has further claimed in its plea that the chief minister's presence at the search site and the alleged removal of documents had an intimidating effect on officers and seriously compromised the federal probe agency's ability to discharge its statutory functions independently.

(With agency inputs)