BJP's Suvendu seeks legal action against Mamata for 'interfering' in ED's job, party hits out at CM

The Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Thursday demanded strong legal action against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly interfering in the job of the ED which is probing a money laundering case by a coal smuggling syndicate of the state.

Banerjee dramatically turned up at the residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain and later at the main office of the TMC's poll advisor amid an ongoing ED search, alleging that the central agency was attempting to seize the party's internal documents, hard disks and sensitive digital data linked to its strategy for the upcoming elections.

Responding to her statements made at those locations during search operations by the Enforcement Directorate, the BJP said that attempts to politicise a lawful investigative process or to undermine constitutional authorities only weakens public trust in institutions and the rule of law.

The party's state unit president Samik Bhattacharya alleged that her action of storming a premises being searched put a stamp of approval on the perception that the ''TMC is steeped in corruption and indulges in criminal activities, that a significant section of its leaders, nay the whole system, is involved in the coal scam and hawala transactions''.

Banerjee was seen coming out with paper documents, hard disks and a laptop from Jain's residence when the agency search operations were taking place. Officials were also seen transferring documents in the CM's vehicle during the raids at the I-PAC office in Salt Lake.

''I am not privy to the investigation details that prompted the ongoing ED raids. But I can tell you this is not the first time that Mamata Banerjee has made direct interference in the job of a central investigating agency. She has done that before at the CBI office at Nizam Palace and during the agency's raids at the former Kolkata CP Rajeev Kumar's residence. She has made this practice, which is both illegal and unconstitutional, into a habit,'' Adhikari said.

He urged the law enforcement agencies to take strong legal action against the chief minister, saying that else it would set a wrong precedent and give out the wrong message to the people of the state.

In May 2021, Banerjee held a sit-in before the CBI office at Nizam Palace, protesting the arrest of two TMC ministers Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim and MLA Madan Mitra along with ex-Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee, after the four were arrested by the agency in connection with the alleged scam exposed by an online sting operation of Narada news outlet.

The TMC supremo, in February 2019, went on an indefinite sit-in at Esplanade area in central Kolkata, after CBI officials tried to enter the Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar's official residence to allegedly question him in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.

The operation had met with an unprecedented confrontation between the CBI officers and the Kolkata Police, with the latter rounding up eight agency officials and forcibly removing them to the nearby Shakespeare Sarani police station.

Adding to Adhikari's statements, the BJP state president maintained that the chief minister's actions have inserted the proverbial last nail in the coffin of her public image.

''A chief minister of a state who took vows of the Constitution before assuming office, directly interfered in a criminal investigation process of a government investigating agency. This is not only illegal, it is an attempt to shield criminals and an act of tampering with evidence.

''Her forceful whisking away with files and hard disks has established in people's mind the complicity of the Trinamool Congress with such criminal activities,'' Bhattacharya said.

The BJP Bengal unit based its statement on information officially put out by the ED.

''According to the ED, the searches are evidence-based and are being carried out in connection with the illegal coal smuggling case... As per the agency, the premises being covered are linked to the generation of illegal cash, hawala transactions, and other proceeds of crime arising from the said case,'' the statement said.

The ED has further clarified that no office of a political party has been searched as part of this action, it said.

''The agency also stated that the searches have no linkage with any election and are part of its routine and continuing crackdown on money laundering,'' the BJP statement said.

The party stated that law enforcement agencies must be allowed to function independently, professionally, and without political interference.

''The law must be permitted to take its own course, guided solely by facts and evidence,'' it said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)