Kolkata, 08 January (H.S.): The Trinamool Congress has retaliated against the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) search operations by approaching the Kolkata High Court. The Trinamool sought permission from Justice Shubhra Ghosh to file a case, which the court granted. The hearing is likely to take place on Friday. In this petition filed against the central government, the Trinamool has also named I-PAC and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as parties.

Meanwhile, on Thursday morning, during the ED's operation, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself reached the Loudon Street residence of I-PAC chief Prashant (Prateek) Jain. She then went to the I-PAC office in Salt Lake. Allegedly, she had some documents, mobile phones, and laptops placed in her car from there. The ED had approached the High Court against Mamata Banerjee's actions. Now, the Trinamool has also approached the court in the same matter. It is expected that both cases will be heard on Friday.

Notably, I-PAC is a consulting firm for the state government. On Thursday morning, the ED raided the I-PAC office and Prashant Jain's house in connection with a case related to illegal coal smuggling. Following this, the Chief Minister arrived at the scene and termed the ED's action politically motivated. Mamata alleged that under the guise of a search, an attempt was made to seize her party's election strategy and important documents.

The ED, on its part, stated that searches were conducted at a total of 10 locations in West Bengal and Delhi based on concrete evidence in the coal smuggling case. According to the agency, this action has no connection to the elections or any political party. The ED alleged that the Chief Minister misused her constitutional powers to interfere with the search and allegedly forcibly removed documents and digital evidence. The ED had approached the High Court with the charge of obstructing the investigation. Following this, the same bench has now granted permission to the Trinamool to file a case as well.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey