New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) The Supreme Court will hear on Thursday a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleging that its simultaneous raid and search operations last week at the office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and the residence of its co-founder, Pratik Jain, were obstructed by the West Bengal government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Sharma and Vipul M. Pancholi will hear the matter on January 15.

Seeking urgent judicial intervention in the matter, the Central anti-money laundering agency has 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 has also claimed that interference by West Bengal authorities compromised the integrity of its investigation.

Anticipating the ED’s move, the West Bengal government has already filed a caveat before the apex court, requesting that no order be passed without hearing its version. The move was aimed at ensuring that no interim relief is granted to the Central agency without the state government being heard.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dealt with a petition accusing CM Mamata Banerjee of misusing her constitutional position by allegedly creating hindrances to the official duties of Central agency officials.

There were two other counter-petitions in the matter, one by Pratik Jain himself and the other by Trinamool Congress.

In its counter-petition, the Trinamool has alleged that since I-PAC is acting as the voter-strategy agency of the party, the ED raid was intended to seize several documents related to its poll strategy for the 2026 Assembly polls and share the same with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

–IANS

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