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The ED prayed for the matter to be adjourned as it has moved the SC on the issue, while the TMC counsel submitted that the party was only seeking protection of its data
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has alleged that ED officials were attempting to seize TMC’s hard disks, internal documents and sensitive organisational data during a search operation at the residence of I-PAC chief Prateek Jain. (Image: PTI/File)
In a dramatic TMC versus ED hearing, the central probe agency on Wednesday told the Calcutta High Court that the ruling party in West Bengal and its boss Mamata Banerjee took away all material before it was seized during the I-PAC raids.
The Calcutta High Court was hearing petitions filed by the ED and TMC in connection with last week’s searches at the residence and office of Pratik Jain, who is the director of political consultancy firm I-PAC.
The ED prayed for the matter to be adjourned as it has moved the Supreme Court. The TMC’s counsel Menaka Guruswamy, meanwhile, submitted that the party was only seeking protection of its data.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s lawyer Kalyan Banerjee objected to the ED’s plea for adjournment. Mamata has been made a party by the central probe agency in its petition before the high court.
WHAT DID THE ED SAY?
Representing the ED, additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju stated before the bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh that the agency seeks adjournment of the matters at the high court as it has filed a petition on the same issue before the Supreme Court.
Raju said when a matter is pending before the SC, a high court should not hear it.
“The matter is to come up before SC…heavens won’t fall if SC hears this petition. The main reason why we want adjournment is because same relief are there before the SC. There are judgements that say if SC is seized of the matter, then this court can’t hear the matter,” Raju argued.
The ED said there is no question of interim relief as the articles were seized by the TMC and not the agency.
“What interim relief are they seeking when TMC seized the articles themselves?” he questioned.
He said the TMC’s entire petition is based on the 2026 elections, which have not even been notified. The party has blamed the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls for the ED action.
The Centre questioned why a person other than Jain, who was raided, is connected to the petition in the first place.
“Somebody’s data has been seized from their house, why should they come in? No writ petition has been filed by the person from whom data has been seized. Why did the TMC show up when the search was conducted at a private person’s office? She’s (Mamata Banerjee) in illegal possession of material. Records have not been seized by ED but by Mamata Banerjee. This search has nothing to do with the TMC,” it argued, adding that the person whose premises were searched has nothing to do with the party.
Raju argued that the plea is “vague” and should be rejected. “The data was seized by Mamata Banerjee, so we’ll support their prayer if they make it against her. When we tried to seize some data, they took away everything,” he added.
January 14, 2026, 15:46 IST
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