Overview
- The Enforcement Directorate filed an Article 32 petition asking the Supreme Court to order a CBI or independent inquiry into alleged obstruction by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the state administration.
- ED also sought immediate sealing, restoration to its custody, and forensic preservation of documents and digital devices it says were removed during the Kolkata searches.
- The West Bengal government lodged a caveat in the Supreme Court to ensure it is heard before any order is passed in the dispute.
- Hearings in related petitions at the Calcutta High Court were adjourned to January 14 after proceedings were disrupted by an overcrowded courtroom.
- Kolkata Police registered FIRs against ED and CAPF personnel over alleged theft during the raids, which the agency denies as it ties the action to a PMLA coal-smuggling probe it says routed funds to I-PAC; TMC and I-PAC call the claims politically motivated.