Overview
- The Supreme Court issued notice to West Bengal on the Enforcement Directorate’s petition and granted interim relief by pausing FIRs registered against ED officials.
- The bench directed the state to preserve the entire January 8 CCTV footage from the I-PAC search locations and set a short timeline for the state’s response, with the next hearing listed for February 3.
- The ED’s plea alleges obstruction during its searches and claims Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee removed documents and devices, seeking a CBI inquiry and naming the CM and senior police officers as respondents.
- The Calcutta High Court disposed of the Trinamool Congress petition seeking protection of party data after the ED told the court it seized nothing from I-PAC or director Pratik Jain’s residence, and it adjourned the ED’s separate plea in view of similar filings before the Supreme Court.
- The January 8 searches targeted I-PAC’s Salt Lake office and Pratik Jain’s home under a PMLA probe stemming from a 2020 CBI FIR on alleged coal pilferage, an operation that escalated after the chief minister visited the sites.