Kolkata, Jan 9 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh, on Friday, will hear three parallel petitions simultaneously on the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s raid and search operations at the office of the India Political Action Committee and at the residence of I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain.

The raids took place on Thursday in Salt Lake, on the northern outskirts of Kolkata and at Loudon Street in central Kolkata.

The main petition is from the ED accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misusing her constitutional position by allegedly creating hindrances to the official duties of central agency officials during raid and search operations at these two places.

There are two counter-petitions against this main petition by ED, the first by Pratik Jain himself and the second by the Trinamool Congress.

In its counter-petition, the Trinamool Congress 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 Trinamool Congress’ poll strategy for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls and share them with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

That was exactly the allegation made against ED by Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, as she stormed the residence of Jain and then the office of I-PAC, along with senior officials of the state administration and the state police, leaving with certain files and electronic documents.

However, before moving the Calcutta High Court on Thursday, the ED issued a statement countering the claims by Mamata Banerjee in the matter and said that the raid and search operations were in connection with an alleged coal smuggling syndicate led by Anup Majee. The ED also claimed that these operations were in no way related to I-PAC’s association with any political party.

Now, all eyes will be on the Calcutta High Court on Friday, as the bench of Justice Ghosh hears the three petitions simultaneously: the main petition by the ED and two counter-petitions by Pratik Jain and the Trinamool Congress.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has issued a statement claiming that the Chief Minister will also hit the streets against the ED’s action on Friday. She will be leading a protest rally starting from Jadavpur in South Kolkata and ending at Hazra Crossing also in South Kolkata. The rally will start at 2 p.m.

CPI(M) politburo member and the party’s state secretary in West Bengal, Md Salim, has claimed that instead of moving the Calcutta High Court, the ED officials should have first arrested the Chief Minister for creating hindrances for on-duty central agency officers from carrying out their duties.

Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Thursday said that if the Enforcement Directorate (ED) does not take action against CM Mamata Banerjee for allegedly obstructing officials during raid and search operations, it would send a wrong signal to the people of the state.

–IANS

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