North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) [India], January 16 (ANI): A day after the Supreme Court issued a notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata and stayed FIRs against ED officials over I-PAC raids, BJP leader Arjun Singh said that when any agency seizes any document during the raids, it becomes the government’s property and “they tried to snatch it away”
On the Supreme Court issuing notices to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and police officers, Singh told ANI, “…When any agency goes to seize any paper or document, it becomes the government’s property. They tried to snatch it away… If the Supreme Court does not immediately order the dismissal and arrest of the culprits in this case, the Constitution of India will not survive…”
Observing that offenders cannot be protected under the shield of law-enforcement agencies of a particular state, the Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and senior state-police officials on pleas filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleging interference by state authorities during its search operations at the premises of political consultancy firm I-PAC under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
A Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and A.G. Masih noted that if issues involving larger constitutional questions are left undecided, it could lead to a situation of lawlessness in states governed by different political outfits.
“Considering adherence of rule of law in the country and to allow each organ to function independently, it is necessary to examine the issue so that offenders are not allowed to be protected under the shield of law-enforcing agencies of a particular state. According to us, larger questions are involved and raised, which if allowed to remain undecided, would further worsen the situation, and there will be a situation of lawlessness prevailing in one or other state, considering that different outfits are governing at different places,” the Court observed.
The Court has also stayed an FIR registered by the West Bengal police against ED officials who had entered the I-PAC premises to conduct searches, after ED counsel sought interim protection. During the hearing, the Solicitor General of India (SGI) Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of ED, described the incident as reflecting a “shocking state of affairs” in West Bengal. (ANI)