ED seeks adjournment in I-PAC raids case; TMC asks Cal HC to protect party data

The ED (Enforcement Directorate) on Wednesday sought an adjournment of the proceedings before the Calcutta High Court in connection with last week’s searches at the residence and office of Pratik Jain, director of political consultancy firm I-PAC, saying it has moved the Supreme Court on the same issue.

Appearing before a bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the ED, said the agency had filed a petition before the apex court and, therefore, the matters pending in the high court should be adjourned. He submitted that when an issue is seized of by the Supreme Court, the high court should ordinarily refrain from hearing it.

The petitions before the Calcutta High Court have been filed by both the ED and the TMC (Trinamool Congress) in connection with the searches conducted last week at Jain’s residence and office.

The central probe agency has also made West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a party to its petition before the high court.

Opposing the ED’s request for adjournment, senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the chief minister, objected to the agency’s plea and urged the court to continue hearing the matter.

On behalf of the ruling party, senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy told the court that the TMC was not seeking to obstruct the investigation but was only pressing for protection of its data that may have been accessed or seized during the searches.

The hearing comes amid a growing legal and political standoff over the ED’s actions against I-PAC, a firm that has provided political consultancy services to the TMC. The outcome of the adjournment plea is expected to determine whether the Calcutta High Court will proceed with the matter or defer to the Supreme Court’s consideration of the issue.