Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 22: The Supreme Court on Wednesday severely reprimanded the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee a day before nearly half of her state going to the polls in the first phase of the state Assembly elections on Thursday.
“No, no, It’s not okay,” a division bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and N.V. Anjaria remarked while hearing the petition of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the I-PAC raid case. The top court stated that her intervention in an ongoing investigation has placed democratic processes in jeopardy.
Disapproving Ms Banerjee’s act of walking into the midst of an investigation by a central agency and putting “democracy in jeopardy,” the bench observed, “This is not a dispute between the state and the union. A Chief Minister of any state cannot walk into the midst of an investigation, put the democracy in peril, and then say don’t convert this into a dispute between the state and the Union,” the Supreme Court said.
The Enforcement Directorate, or ED, has accused Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state officials of interfering with its investigation and searches at the offices of political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee, (I-PAC), which works with the Trinamool. The raids happened in early January as part of a money laundering investigation.
According to the agency, Mamata Banerjee, accompanied by state officials, entered the I-PAC office as well as the home of its founder, Pratik Jain, while the searches were underway and walked out with a laptop. Phone and multiple documents.
“This is per se an act committed by an individual who happens to be the Chief Minister keeping the whole democracy in jeopardy,” the top court underlined. The state had claimed that the raids were politically motivated and aimed at undermining the Trinamool Congress ahead of the polls.
The bench was responding to an argument made by the West Bengal government side, represented by senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, that the writ petition filed by the ED in the apex court for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation against Ms Banerjee, senior police and State officials who accompanied her. Ms Guruswamy said the Union Government had to move the Supreme Court in an original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution as ED, being a Central agency, was part of it.
“But this cannot be construed as a dispute between the State and the Centre. A Chief Minister cannot just walk into an ongoing investigation… This is not per se a dispute between the State of West Bengal and the Union of India. This is per se an act committed by an individual who happens to be the Chief Minister of the State,” Justice Mishra reacted.
The judges further noted: “We never imagined a day would come in this country when a Chief Minister would interfere in the middle of an investigation.” In another strong remark, the bench said, “The Chief Minister has put the entire system in danger.”
The top court said the Constitution framers would have disapproved of the act. “You have taken us through the writings of HM Seervai, BR Ambedkar, but none of them would have conceived this situation in this country that one day a sitting Chief Minister will walk into the office during an ongoing investigation,” the court said.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, also for the West Bengal side, argued that an aggrieved complainant, in this case the ED, cannot insist that a particular agency should investigate his case. The aggrieved person could only urge that a proper and fair investigation be done.
But Justice Mishra interjected to point out the recent incident in Malda where seven judicial officers including three women officers were gheraoed for over seven hours inside a state government office in Malda district by a large crowd earlier this month, alleging that genuine voters’ names had been deleted from the electoral rolls. The standoff was triggered by mass deletions from the electoral rolls under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The judge asked whether it would have been enough if the judicial officers’ case was heard by a Magistrate.
Justice Mishra said the current situation faced by the ED was an “extraordinary” one. “This is an extraordinary situation… We cannot shut our eyes to realities. You may argue legal principles before us as a counsel, but let us not lose sight of the practical situation which is occurring on the spot in the State… Do not compel us to make observations. It would be reported tomorrow and you would say the court said this in the midst of elections… But what can we do?” Justice Mishra observed.
The Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court was forced to intervene personally, placing group calls to the home secretary and the Director General of Police before the judicial officers were rescued late at night. “Don’t compel us to make observations. This is not a litigation between Ram vs Shyam. This is an extraordinary situation where the contours are totally different. The court has to take decision keeping in view socio-political realities. It is an ever-evolving process,” it said.
The ED would commence its rejoinder arguments on April 23, following which the court is expected to reserve the case for orders. In an earlier hearing, the court had asked what would Ms Banerjee’s “legal reaction” be if, in a reversal of fortune, she came to power in the Centre in 2030-2031, and a Chief Minister from an opposing political party “barged” in and disrupted a raid by a central agency.
The ED’s petition is an off-shoot of its “interrupted” raid at the I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain’s residence and offices. The poll-bound State’s ruling Trinamool Congress party is reported to consult I-PAC on electoral and political strategy. The ED’s case is that Chief Minister Banerjee intruded on the raids and took away paper and digital evidence from the scene.
The Trinamool leadership has dismissed a report by certain media outlets claiming that the I-PAC team in West Bengal had been asked to go on leave for 20 days. There was no response from I-PAC over the reports of its suspension of operations.
“We have come across a media report claiming that IPAC has “halted its operations in West Bengal for the next 20 days.” This claim is completely baseless and appears to be a deliberate attempt to create confusion on the ground,” the Trinamool Congress posted on social media. The State’s ruling party further said that I-PAC team in the State remained fully engaged with the party, and campaign operations continued as planned across the State.
“These narratives are a deliberate attempt to distract from the clear mood on the ground. The people of Bengal are fully capable of seeing through these attempts and will respond democratically,” the statement added. It added that West Bengal would not be swayed by misinformation or intimidation and would respond decisively on April 23 and 29.
Later Ms Banerjee had said the agency was being pressurised to leave West Bengal. She said she would hire everyone in the firm and absorb them in the party. She also said she had a word with party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over the developments.
“You are asking these agencies, who work for our party, to leave Bengal. Why? You have 50 agencies; we have only one. Listen, if you try to intimidate them, they will join my party. We will give them jobs. We will take care of them. Remember this, I will not let a single person lose their job,” Ms Banerjee said at a public meeting.
I-PAC has been the backbone of the planning and election strategy for the Trinamool Congress for the past several elections. In 2021, the political consultancy firm under the leadership of Prashant Kishor successfully resisted the onslaught of the BJP. The party then engaged I-PAC in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, in which the Trinamool increased its number of seats to 29 from 22 in 2019.
If I-PAC suspends its operations at this crucial juncture, the Trinamool Congress will face a serious challenge against the well-oiled election machinery of the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are holding multiple rallies along with Chief Ministers of several BJP-ruled States. For the Trinamool, the Chief Minister and Mr Abhishek Banerjee are leading the campaign.
On January 8, 2026, the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at the office and residence of I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain in connection with a coal smuggling scam. The Chief Minister intervened during the raids and allegedly took documents from the possession of the ED officials. The ED has approached the Supreme Court against Ms Banerjee, and the matter is pending before the top court.
On April 13, the ED arrested Vinesh Chandel, a director and co-founder of I-PAC, in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in the poll-bound State. Raids were held in several States and cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi in connection with the coal smuggling scam.
Meanwhile, the ED has also intensified its action against leaders of the Trinamool Congress. The agency has issued a fourth summons to party candidates Sujit Bose and Rathin Ghosh and directed them to appear before it on April 24. Sujit Bose is contesting from the Bidhannagar Assembly constituency in the 2026 elections, while Rathin Ghosh is in the fray from Madhyamgram.
The West Bengal Assembly elections will be conducted in two phases across 294 constituencies. The first phase, scheduled for Thursday will cover 152 seats, while the second phase on April 29 will see voting in the remaining 142 seats. The counting of votes is set to take place on May 4.