"Mamata Banerjee's Actions Put Democracy In Jeopardy": Top Court In I-PAC Case

The state had claimed that the raids were politically motivated and aimed at undermining the Trinamool Congress ahead of the polls.

22 Apr 2026, 10:05 · www.ndtv.com

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Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed disapproval over Mamata Banerjee's interference in ED investigation
"A Chief Minister cannot walk into the midst of an investigation and put the democracy in peril," it said
Mamata Banerjee allegedly took a laptop, phone, and documents during the investigation

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It's not okay, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday, disapproving of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's act of walking into the midst of an investigation by a central agency and putting "democracy in jeopardy". The stinging remarks come a day before the state goes to polls.

The Enforcement Directorate, or ED, has accused Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state officials of interfering with its investigation and searches at the offices of political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee, or I-PAC, which works with the Trinamool. The raids happened in early January as part of a money laundering investigation.

"This is not a dispute between the state and the union. A Chief Minister of any state cannot walk into the midst of an investigation, put the democracy in peril, and then say don't convert this into a dispute between the state and the Union," the Supreme Court said.

According to the agency, Mamata Banerjee, accompanied by state officials, entered the I-PAC office as well as the home of its founder, Pratik Jain, while the searches were underway and walked out with a laptop, phone and multiple documents.

"This is per se an act committed by an individual who happens to be the Chief Minister keeping the whole democracy in jeopardy," the top court underlined.

The state had claimed that the raids were politically motivated and aimed at undermining the Trinamool Congress ahead of the polls.

The top court said the Constitution framers would have disapproved of the act.

"You have taken us through the writings of HM Seervai, BR Ambedkar, but none of them would have conceived this situation in this country that one day a sitting Chief Minister will walk into the office during an ongoing investigation," the court said.

The Supreme Court also took note of the seven judicial officers, including three women, who were gheraoed for several hours inside the Kaliachak 2 Block Development Office (BDO) in Bengal's Malda district by a large crowd earlier this month, alleging that genuine voters' names had been deleted from the electoral rolls.

The standoff was triggered by mass deletions from the electoral rolls under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision, or SIR.

"This is an extraordinary situation. Before the other bench where the FIR is under question, we have seen the situation that several judicial officers had been kept hostage. And you want the petitioner should have gone to a magistrate under section 200? We cannot shut our eyes to the reality of what's happening. We cannot lose sight of the practical situation which is present in the state," an irate top court said.

The Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court was forced to intervene personally, placing group calls to the home secretary and the Director General of Police before the judicial officers were rescued late at night.

"Don't compel us to make observations. This is not a litigation between Ram vs Shyam. This is an extraordinary situation where the contours are totally different. The court has to take decision keeping in view socio-political realities. It is an ever-evolving process," it said.

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