The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday termed the Supreme Court's observations on the Enforcement Directorate's petition alleging obstructions during raids at I-PAC premises a "serious indictment" of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her government, alleging that she used the state machinery to shield those accused of coal smuggling and money laundering.
Banerjee is completely exposed and defeated today both in the court of public opinion and in the court of law, the BJP said, stressing that there is now no justification for her to remain in the post of chief minister.
It came after the top court described the Enforcement Directorate's allegation that Banerjee caused "obstruction" in its probe as "very serious" and agreed to examine whether a state's law-enforcing agencies can interfere with any central agency's investigation into any serious offence.
The top court stayed the FIR filed in West Bengal against ED officials who raided the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) office and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain, on January 8 and directed the state police to protect the CCTV footage of the raids.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Vipul Pancholi issued notices to Banerjee, the West Bengal government, director general of police Rajeev Kumar and top cops on the ED's petitions seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against them for allegedly obstructing raids at I-PAC premises.
Reacting to the development, BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya said, "This is a serious indictment of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her government."
In a "stinging" observation, the Supreme Court noted that the plea raises serious issues of alleged interference by state agencies in an ongoing ED investigation, he said.
The court warned that obstruction of central agencies probing grave economic offences could lead to lawlessness, he said in a post on X.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia termed the apex court's observations and stay on the FIR against the ED officials a "resounding slap" to Banerjee, and said this makes it clear that there is "jungle raj" in West Bengal under the Trinamool Congress (TMC) rule.
"Salute to the honourable Supreme Court for yet again showing a mirror to an anarchist leader like Mamata Banerjee and sending out a message that only the rule of law will prevail in India and West Bengal," he said.
"The elections are approaching. The people will teach such a lesson that anarchy will be completely destroyed along with Mamata Benrjee's corrupt politics," Bhatia added.
Another BJP national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi called the the Supreme Court's observations a "severe blow" to Banerjee and her government, saying her "consistent pattern" of disregarding the sanctity of the constitutional institutions has also been taken into account.
"Mamata Banerjee has been completely exposed and defeated today, both in the court of public opinion and in the court of law. There is now no justification for her to remain in the position of the chief minister," Ilmi said in the same press conference.
Taking on Banerjee, Malviya said that when a chief minister uses the state machinery to shield those accused of coal smuggling and money laundering, and to intimidate central agencies, the Supreme Court's intervention becomes "inevitable".
He alleged that the chief minister's conduct during the ED raids at I-PAC premises was not governance but abuse of power to protect corruption.
Bhatia alleged that Banerjee barged into the I-PAC premises during the ED's raid, intimidated the investigating officials and stole the evidence of the money laundering case linked to alleged coal smuggling.
"Look at their goondaism. Ahead of the hearing of a petition in the Calcutta High Court in the matter, the TMC's IT cell called its goons inside the courtroom sending WhatsApp messages," he said.
"The TMC goons came inside the courtroom and tried to intimidate the judge. And, when the judge could not be intimated, they started creating uproar, forcing the court to adjourn the hearing," Bhatia added.
The ED's plea in the apex court follows events from January 8, when ED officials faced obstructions during the probe agency's raids at the office of the political consultancy firm I-PAC in Salt Lake and the residence of its chief, Pratik Jain, in Kolkata in connection with a coal smuggling case.
The probe agency has claimed that Banerjee entered the premises and took away "key" evidence related to the probe.
The chief minister has accused the central agency of overreach, while her party, the TMC, has denied the ED's allegation of "obstructing" its probe. The state's police have registered an FIR against ED officers.
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