High Court Clears TMC Petition on ED Raids Amid Privacy Concerns

The Calcutta High Court resolved a TMC petition after the Enforcement Directorate clarified no data was seized during raids on I-PAC director Pratik Jain's premises. The court's decision followed submissions by the ED and centered around a potential privacy breach involving political party data amid upcoming elections.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday concluded proceedings regarding a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), seeking data protection assurances. This followed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) confirmation that no materials were seized from I-PAC Director Pratik Jain during recent raids.

TMC's legal motion sought judicial authority to preserve personal and political data, amid concerns of potential data confiscation by the ED during search operations at Jain's premises on January 8. The central agency assured that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee retrieved all digital materials from the sites.

Justice Suvra Ghosh concluded that further judicial action was unnecessary, given the ED's statements. Meanwhile, the court deferred a separate ED petition seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged interference with its January 8 operations involving Banerjee.

(With inputs from agencies.)