New Delhi, February 19 – The Enforcement Directorate has alleged "gross abuse of power" by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the state machinery for "illegally intruding" into raids at the I-PAC office and the premises of its director, in connection with an alleged coal pilferage scam.
The agency rejected the West Bengal government's claim that Banerjee and the police intervened to prevent "armed individuals impersonating officials of central agencies" from conducting an unauthorized search.
The ED stated that its officials duly displayed their ID cards during the January 8 raid and obtained authorisation from the police officers.
"A close examination of the facts reveals gross abuse of power by the State machinery of West Bengal. Senior officials of the State Police have colluded and obstructed the functions of the ED under the PMLA, in the interests of Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal," the ED stated in its response in the top court.
Rejecting the state government's claim that the case relates to federal relations and cannot be entertained, the ED stated that it is seeking an FIR against the "blatant abuse of power" by state officials and their involvement in offences.
The agency claimed that the police escorted Banerjee into the premises where a search was underway and forcibly seized incriminating material.
"Individuals took away documents and data collected and indexed by the ED officers. The process of backing up computer and email data was also halted midway. Ms. Banerjee, along with State police officers, forcibly took away the computer installed in the premises."
"The State police, at the direction of Banerjee, forcibly took the mobile phones of employees of M/s Indian PAC Consulting Pvt. Ltd., present in the premises. They took the laptop of the ED officer and the officer's mobile phone, and returned it after two hours. Taking the laptop and mobile phone and keeping them for two hours constitutes theft," the agency said.
The federal investigation agency stated that the CM entered the IPAC premises with her Z-plus security, "completely disregarding the lawful proceedings that were already underway."
"The presence of hundreds of police personnel demonstrates coercion by the State Police and interference with lawful searches conducted by the ED officers under the PMLA…
"The manner of entry constituted a clear display of force and numerical strength, during which documents and incriminating material were forcibly taken and removed from the premises, despite repeated requests by ED officers to refrain from doing so," the agency said.
It also refuted Banerjee's claim that the material taken contained only confidential and proprietary information of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
"Once such material has been forcibly retrieved and taken away, it becomes difficult to identify what was taken away and determine whether or not it only contained confidential and proprietary information of the party or whether it also contained information related to the offence being investigated by the ED," the ED stated.
The top court on January 15 said that the West Bengal chief minister's alleged "obstruction" in the ED's investigation is "very serious" and agreed to examine if a state's law-enforcing agencies can interfere with any central agency's investigation into any serious offence, as it stayed FIRs against the agency's officials who raided the political consultancy I-PAC on January 8.
The top court, while staying the FIRs filed in West Bengal against ED officials, also directed the state police to protect the CCTV footage of the raids.
It had issued notices to Banerjee, the West Bengal government, DGP Rajeev Kumar and top cops on the ED's petitions seeking a CBI probe against them for allegedly obstructing raids at I-PAC premises.
The ED has also alleged that Banerjee entered the raid sites and took away "key" evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices, from the premises of I-PAC and obstructed and interfered with the investigation in the case.
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.
The ED's plea in the apex court follows events from January 8, when the agency conducted searches on the premises of I-PAC and its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata as part of a money-laundering probe into the alleged multi-crore-rupee coal-pilferage scam.
During the search operation, Banerjee reached the I-PAC office along with senior TMC leaders, confronted the ED officials and allegedly took away documents from the premises. The chief minister has accused the central agency of overreach.
The West Bengal Police has also registered an FIR against the ED officers.
The TMC has denied the ED's allegation of obstruction and instead alleged that the ED action against I-PAC, the election consultant of the party, was aimed at accessing confidential election-strategy material.