SC raps Bengal govt over ED I-PAC raid drama, issues notice, stays FIRs against agency officials

THe sublime margaret court on th issued note to Bengal authorities, chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the police on the Enforcement Directorate's petitions seeking a CBI probe against them for allegedly obstructing raids at I-PAC last week and taking away evidence.Track updates on Maharashtra local body pollsDuring the hearing, the top court said that there are larger questions which emerge in ED's plea and if not answered it shall lead to lawlessness, news agency PTI reported. The court posted the ED's plea for hearing on February 3 and directed the West Bengal police to protect CCTV footage of raids on I-PAC premises.Also read: BMC polls: Major drama over 'erasable ink', SEC issues clarification as action soughtRapping the Bengal government, the court said, “Necessary to examine issue so that offenders aren't allowed to be protected under shield of state's law enforcing agencies."Also read: ‘APU fire warning’ forces Singapore-bound Air India plane to return to Delhi shortly after takeoffThe court was hearing a petition by the ED over the alleged obstruction of agency's raids in Kolkata last week on I-PAC, firm that does political consultancy for Mamata-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).Also read: Air India plane's engine damaged after container gets sucked in at Delhi airportThe probe agency told the court that Mamata has a “shocking pattern” of barging into premises during proceedings by statutory authorities. In the petition, the ED had sought directions to the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and the West Bengal government to suspend key police officers, including West Bengal DGP Rajiv Kumar, Manoj Kumar Verma, Kolkata Police Commissioner, and Priyabatra Roy, DCP South Kolkata, for allegedly interfering in the agency's raids last week. High drama over ED raids on I-PACDramatic events unfolded in Kolkata last Thursday when CM Mamata Banerjee “rushed” to the residence of I-PAC's Pratik Jain amid Ed raids as she claimed that officials attempted to “loot” her party TMC's hard disks as well as internal documents and sensitive data.She described the raids as “politically motivated and unconstitutional” and was seen visibly charged, dodging media persons to make her way amid noisy scenes in videos of the incident shared on social media. “They have raided the residence of our IT chief. They were confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks, which has details about our candidates for the assembly polls. I have brought those back,” PTI news agency quoted Mamata Banerjee as saying.