KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Friday adjourned the hearing on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea seeking registration of an FIR against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, citing large-scale commotion in the courtroom.The matter is now likely to be taken up on January 14.
According to sources, the judge expressed strong displeasure over the situation, saying nothing could be heard inside the packed courtroom. An attempt was made to clear the court to restore order, but the lawyers who were scheduled to argue the matter were unable to even reach the bench amid the chaos, sources said.Earlier in the day, ED accused the West Bengal Police, allegedly acting in collusion with chief minister Mamata Banerjee, of obstructing its officials and failing to discharge their public duty in “flagrant and blatant disregard to law” during an ongoing search operation in Kolkata carried out on January 8.In the 28-page petition, the ED said the state police prevented its officers from carrying out their official duties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.The agency alleged that the situation escalated after the Mamata Banerjee on Thursday entered the residential premises of Prateek Jain, director of political consultancy firm I-PAC, during an ED search and took away what the agency described as “key evidence”, including physical documents and electronic devices.The ED said it approached the high court to invoke its writ jurisdiction to “instil public confidence” in the functioning of the state administration and to immediately stop what it termed as “overreach” by the state police and the CM.According to the petition, the West Bengal Police, in violation of provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, obstructed ED officers from discharging their statutory responsibilities, prompting the agency to seek judicial intervention.“The present writ petition is filed invoking the writ jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court to instil public confidence in the functioning of the State Government and to immediately prevent the over-action of the State Police and the Hon’ble Chief Minister of the State, Ms. Mamta Banerjee. State Police of West Bengal in collusion with Hon’ble Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal in flagrant and blatant disregard to law has failed to discharge its public duty mandated under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS, 2023), and has obstructed the Petitioner Officers in discharging their official duties mandated under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002,” the petition read.The document pointed out that the ED search action was initiated against I-PAC and other entities related to a coal smuggling case on January 8.During the search, it mentions, “The chief minister of West Bengal, Mamta Banerjee, entered the premises and with the aid of police personnel, forcibly took possession of all digital devices along with key incriminating documents from the possession of the authorised officer. In another premise also similar incident also happened where files were taken in her car.”As per the petition, “concrete material found during investigation revealed that at least Rs 20 crores worth of proceeds of crime was transferred to IPAC through hawala channels.”In continuation of the ongoing investigation and to trace out the proceeds of crime and utilisation thereof, a search action was initiated on January 8 against IPAC and certain other entities in relation to the coal smuggling case, it says.“During the course of the search, various digital devices were taken into possession, which were suspected to be relevant to the PMLA investigation. During the course of the search, at around 11.15 am, Priyobrato, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Kolkata, visited the building premises and informed the authorised officer that a complaint of House trespass had been received by the Police. Thereafter, for the verification of correct facts about the proceedings, the DCP was shown the identity cards of the team and the search authorisation. Thereafter, Manoj Kumar Verma, IPS, The Commissioner of Police, Kolkata also entered the premises. As the Police officers were being briefed about the search proceedings under section 17 of PMLA, 2002, at around 12.05 pm, Mamta Banerjee, the sitting Chief Minister of State of West Bengal (duly identified), entered the premises despite making a categorical request for not interfering with the ongoing search proceedings under PMLA,” it said.“However, violating all law and order, Mamata Banerjee, with the aid of police personnel, forcibly took possession of all digital devices along with key incriminating documents from the possession of the authorised officer and left the premises at about 12.15 pm. All the proceedings have been recorded in Panchanama duly drawn at the premises on January 8, 2026. Further, another premise, out of the 10 premises searched by this Directorate on January 8, 2026, was the office premise of Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited situated at 11th Floor, Godrej Waterside, Tower 1, Ring Rd, DP Block, Sector V, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal,” stated the ED in the petition.It further pointed out that Vikram Ahlawat, Assistant Director, was authorised by Robin Bansal, Deputy Director vide authorisation no. 09 of 2025 dated January 7, 2025, to carry out search and seizure proceedings at the office premise of Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited under section 17 of PMLA, 2002, and proceedings of the search and seizure operation were recorded in Panchnama dated January 8, 2026 drawn at the office premise of Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited.“However, after the receipt of an incident report dated January 8, 2026, it was learnt that the officers of the Enforcement Directorate were not allowed to perform their lawful duties and were obstructed from carrying out the same,” it said.ED also mentioned that “several FIRs have been registered in a malicious manner targeting officers of the Directorate of Enforcement only for carrying out their official functions under the PMLA and to criminally intimidate them.Considering the extraordinary developments, the ED, through its urgent writ petition, sought the Calcutta High Court’s urgent intervention in the matter.In a statement, the agency on Thursday clarified that “the search was evidence-based and is not targeted at any political establishment.”“No party office has been searched. The search is not linked to any elections, and is part of regular crackdown on money laundering. The search is conducted strictly in accordance with established legal safeguards,” the ED had said on Thursday.ED said the search was based on the Central Bureau of Investigation’s Kolkata unit’s FIR No. RC0102020A0022 dated November 27, 2020, against Anup Majee and others, for which the ED had recorded Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) vide ECIR/17/HIU/2020 dated November 28, 2020.During the investigation, ED said it was revealed that the coal smuggling syndicate led by Anup Majee used to steal and illegally excavate coal from ECL leasehold areas of West Bengal.“Thereafter, this coal was sold at various factories and plants located in Bankura, Bardhhaman, Purulia and other districts of West Bengal. Investigation revealed that a large part of this coal was sold to the Shakambhari Group of companies,” it said.“Investigation revealed a link with Hawala operators as well. Multiple pieces of evidence including statements of various persons, confirmed the hawala nexus. Investigation revealed that one hawala operator linked to layering of proceeds of crime of coal smuggling had facilitated transactions of Tens of Crores of Rupees to Indian Pac Consulting Private Limited.”It further said the persons linked to the generation of coal smuggling proceeds, hawala operators and handlers were covered in the PMLA search on January 8, 2026.“I-PAC is also one of the entities linked to Hawala money. During yesterday’s action, six premises in West Bengal and four premises in Delhi were covered,” the agency added.
