Kolkata/New Delhi: Anticipating that the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) may approach the Supreme Court against alleged interference by the West Bengal government in its search operations, the Mamata Banerjee-led state government has filed a caveat before the apex court, seeking that no order be passed without hearing it.

The caveat comes in the backdrop of ED’s search raids conducted on Thursday at the headquarters of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), a political consultancy firm linked to the All India Trinamool Congress, and at the Kolkata residence of its director, Pratik Jain.

The ED on Saturday moved the Supreme Court after the Calcutta High Court adjourned the hearing on its urgent plea. In its petition, the central agency accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of obstructing ED officials and preventing them from performing their public duties.

The agency also alleged that the situation escalated after the Chief Minister entered the residential premises of Pratik Jain during an ED search and removed what it described as "key evidence", including physical documents and electronic devices.

Earlier, the West Bengal government filed a plea in the Calcutta High Court alleging that the ED seized all data and digital records from I-PAC’s office. In its petition, the state government has sought directions to the ED to return all seized materials, including private, sensitive and confidential data, along with information and documents taken in both physical and electronic form.

The state government claimed that the allegedly unlawfully seized data belongs to the Trinamool Congress and relates to its party operations.

Amid the West Bengal government’s move, the ED approached the Supreme Court.

Seeking urgent judicial intervention, the agency claimed that its officials faced resistance during the search operations and were prevented from carrying out their duties in accordance with the law.

The ED further alleged that interference by West Bengal authorities compromised the integrity of its investigation. Anticipating the ED’s move, the state government filed a caveat before the apex court, requesting that no order be passed without hearing its version, aimed at ensuring that no interim relief is granted to the central agency without the state being heard.

The development comes a day after the Calcutta High Court turned down the ED’s plea for an urgent hearing regarding controversies surrounding the raids. The ED had approached Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul seeking an urgent hearing after the matter could not be taken up by the single-judge bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh due to chaos and commotion inside the courtroom.

The Acting Chief Justice Paul-led bench stated that the hearing would proceed on the scheduled date, January 14, as fixed earlier.

In its petition before the Calcutta High Court, the ED accused the Chief Minister of misusing her constitutional position by allegedly creating hindrances to the official duties of central agency officials during the raid and search operations carried out at the two premises. The agency also sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the matter, making the Chief Minister a party to its petition.

The ED further pleaded for an investigation into the role of senior police officials who were allegedly accompanying CM Mamata when she reached the two locations while ED operations were underway and reportedly left the premises after collecting paper files and electronic documents.

There were also two counter-petitions in the matter, one by Pratik Jain and another by the Trinamool Congress. In its counter-petition, the Trinamool Congress alleged that since I-PAC is acting as the party’s voter-strategy agency, the ED raid was aimed at seizing documents related to its poll strategy for the 2026 Assembly elections and sharing them with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The ED searches were conducted in connection with a money-laundering investigation linked to an alleged multi-crore coal pilferage scam. (ANI, IANS)