- 12 hours ago
The Supreme Court has stayed three FIRs filed by the Kolkata Police against ED officials following searches at the premises of political consultancy I-PAC.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Supreme setback for Didi in war against ED
00:10Supreme Court stays FIR against ED issues notice to TMC
00:19BJP welcomes Supreme Court order slams Mamata government
00:26It is absolute lawlessness, total absence of law and error, total breakdown of constitutional machinery
00:34But TMC claims pre-poll interference
00:43Election is forthcoming, then the interference by the ED to the political party's affairs is also an important issue
00:56High voltage face-off ahead of Bengal battle
00:59Mamata versus Enforcement Directorate
01:07That is our top focus on India today
01:10Good evening, you are watching NewsTrack with me, Maria Shakil
01:16There has been a supreme setback for Mamata Banerjee in a showdown against the Enforcement Directorate
01:23The Supreme Court has put a temporary break on the FIRs filed against the ED
01:29All three FIRs of the Kolkata police have been stayed till February 3rd
01:34Which is when the next hearing is going to take place
01:38The Supreme Court has also issued a notice to the TMC government
01:42Asking for a response within two weeks on the ED's plea
01:46To hand over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation, that is the CBI
01:51In the heated exchange in the court between the two sides
01:55The ED accused Mamata Banerjee of committing an offence amounting to theft
02:01And claimed that ruckus at the high court hearing of the case was planned by the TMC's legal cell
02:07India today has also accessed the chat cited by the Election Commission
02:13Where the TMC's legal team circulated a message for assembling at the Calcutta High Court on January 9th
02:22When the matter was to be heard
02:24Mamata Banerjee's government's, in fact her lawyers, team of lawyers, hit back
02:30Rejecting claims of ruckus and accused the ED of acting with malafied intent
02:35While making it clear that the central agencies cannot interfere with election work
02:40Also underlined that serious offences cannot be shielded from investigation
02:46The BJP, meanwhile, has welcomed the SE's order
02:50Accusing the TMC of defying the federal structure
02:53And causing a breakdown of the constitutional machinery
02:56As the political slugfest intensifies, the battle for Bengal is getting bitter
03:01First of this report, and then I bring in Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar
03:06Who is currently and presently is in Bengal
03:10He will be joining me shortly
03:11It is a supreme setback for Mamata Sarkar in her fight with Enforcement Directorate
03:26The Supreme Court has stayed all three FIRs filed by West Bengal Police against ED officers
03:33Over the IPAC searches
03:34The court has also issued a notice to the TMC government
03:38Asking for a response within two weeks on the ED's plea to hand over probe to the CBI
03:43This after the central agency alleged its probe was obstructed by TMC and West Bengal State Police
03:50It also claimed that EMC legal self-planned ruckus during Etsy hearing, citing WhatsApp chats
04:00The Supreme Court says this raises serious questions of interference
04:05The bench also said it was deeply disturbed by the disruption in the Calcutta High Court
04:10Asking whether the court had been turned into a protest site
04:14BJP welcomed the court decision, calling Mamata the agent of anarchy, alleging jungle raj in Bengal
04:21This is not a new thing
04:23The treinamool congress of the legal sale is Mamata Banerjee's message
04:28They send a WhatsApp message and say that everyone will reach the high court
04:34This is Mamata Banerjee's role of jungle raj, and the motive of jungle raj is like a man
04:39senior advocates kapil sibyl and abhishek singh vi argued the ed acted with malified intent
04:51seeing the agency new ipac house confidential election material
04:58evidence which has been taken by the in the statement is 21st february 2024
05:04there after he was sleeping all together now when the election is forthcoming then he was jumping
05:11upon it is jumping up on that is also the question now the war of words is intensifying for now the
05:17supreme court has drawn a clear line party politics cannot obstruct investigations
05:24in a significant turn in the ongoing ed versus tmc controversy the supreme court has now stepped in
05:30with a one-of-its-kind order the top court has decided to deal with what it called a serious issue
05:36investigation by central agencies and interference by state agencies the court has made it clear that
05:42while no central agency has right to interfere in election related work crucial question is if a
05:49central agency wants to investigate a serious offense in a state in a bona fide manner can the shield of
05:56political party activity or state agencies be used to obstruct them but with elections approaching the
06:03battle for bengal looks set to only bitter in the days going forward with shishti oja bureau report india today
06:11and joining me now is sukanta majumdar union minister and a member of parliament from balurgat
06:28he is in fact uh touring bengal so mr majumdar really appreciate your time what will be seen you know as a
06:35major setback for mantha banerji's government in west bengal the supreme court today has paused the
06:41firs which were registered against the officers of the ed in connection with the searches which
06:47happened against the political consultancy ipac how do you look at the supreme court's order
06:52so you know you know it's a supreme slap i would like to call from the beginning the uh councils uh
07:03those who are trying to you know push back the case to the kolkata high court they are trying their
07:09level ways and you know the tmc as the as well as the government of west bengal they both hired two
07:16prominent lawyers of the supreme court william singhvi ji abil simple ji was representing uh uh
07:24mamtha banerji and abhishek manu singhvi ji uh was representing uh the government of west bengal
07:32but in spite of that actually it's a win for the ed because as you mentioned uh mariaji uh as uh the
07:41board has given the verdict to stop the investigation on the afir those have been registered against the
07:49ed officials because the incident that happened on that day in uh front of mamtha banerji and
07:56actually mamtha banerji was the creator uh of that incident it is really a challenge to i feel that it
08:03is really a challenge towards the sovereignty of our country this great democracy and it is a
08:11heat on the federal structure of this country and so we welcome the verdict of the honorable supreme
08:18lord i'm looking at what solicitor general tushar mehta said here uh he in fact accused bengal chief
08:24minister of theft that she took uh evidence from the residence of ipaco founder prateek jain and that
08:33she said that this will uh this you know kind of act uh in fact that's what uh tushar mehta said this
08:42kind of act will encourage state police officers to aid and abet such cases
08:51is really it's a unique incident that happened on that day i don't know whether in the in the history of
08:58this democracy of this country we have any other uh instance or not but uh it is really it is a you
09:06know act of i feel that it's act of theft and uh not only that it has been mentioned by the uh in the
09:16in higher in high court polkata high court as well as the supreme court also that uh uh the ed
09:23officers they were threatened by the police officials especially the dg rajib kumar especially it was
09:32mentioned in the kolkata high court by the ed council of london council of ed and really it's a unique
09:40incident and and i feel it will create a unique problem for the federal structure and the constitution
09:49of this country and i feel that it is a challenge and the act of tmc chief minister because on one
09:58side mamtha manager is claiming she was representing the tmc but dgb foolish as well as the chief secretary
10:07of the state nandini chakravarti both were present in uh with the mamtha manager in that uh you know
10:14trespass that made by that was made by the mamtha manager and whole team and according to the ed council
10:22uh who mentioned who was present in the kolkata high court yesterday they mentioned that all the ed
10:29officials they were threatened by the police officials and they have snatched all the documents
10:36and from that investigation area and it is a i think it is the act of crime and all
10:43uh these officials along with the mamtha manager should be taken under the course of law of course
10:49you know the opposition though will continue to maintain that this is misuse of central agencies
10:55that here the reason why ipac co-founder prateek jain was targeted was that he has been working the
11:02ipac has been working with the tmc for so long they are aware of the entire election strategy they are
11:08involved in the election strategy in the elections which will be held in few months from now
11:16ipac is a private entity and they worked uh you know uh for the tmc they worked for uh
11:26that rjd in bihar also even i if i am not wrong then they have worked also for that uh
11:33uh in telinga now so yes they worked for congress in panjab as well when uh mr prasam tishore was the
11:43head yes please go ahead yes so it's the it is a it is a totally a private entity and a profitable
11:48venture and a profitable venture whenever you were assisting uh any political party it is not a crime
11:55or whatever you want to do you can do but the thing is that the investigation uh was done by the ed
12:04and it is it is it was found that the some kind of road is there some kind of involvement of this
12:12entity was there when tmc fought the goa election and what kind of involvement that is related to the
12:21money transfer so the money transfer and the what was the source of that money that source of source
12:29of that money was the coal scam and you know the investigation is going on for so many years
12:36regarding this whole whole scam so whatever our opposition is saying the opposition is saying that
12:42it is not justified and they are trying to cover up the whole thing you can hire any any company for
12:49your uh election venture but you cannot use that private company or that company that entity in
12:58money transferring or generalizing your uh scam scam money it is not acceptable in the in the in this
13:06country since you spoke about the coal scam uh i'm looking at what mr symbols told the supreme court today
13:16that the last development in the coal scam case took place in february of 2024 uh of course he was
13:25appearing on behalf of mamtha banerji he went on to ask a question that is there on perhaps everybody's
13:30mind about the timing what is the ed doing about it and doing about this case in 2026 then
13:36so is it is it you know is it a justified question that ed will do the every every year whether ed has to
13:50prove themselves by doing some kind of inquiry everywhere so inquiry you cannot specify any specific time
13:58for any kind of inquiry or rate inquiry is a even the you know ed has to find out the money trail in
14:06case of scam this kind of scam so finding a many money trail is not a matter of joke the knowledgeable
14:14person they know it may take several years so and they are claiming that it is done it was it has been
14:22done just before election so every year you have election in the state even in 24 we have we had the
14:29election so even in some in case of some uh you know municipality and corporation the election is due
14:39that could have been arranged in 2022 2025 so you know the that's why we are advocating for the one
14:46nation one election but okay let we do we don't have the time to discuss that but the thing is that
14:53you cannot you know justify this that this year election is the election year is this year is the
15:00election year so you cannot investigate anything it is not justified and if you have hired any company
15:08for the election management it does not mean that that that company is should be given any kind of
15:15immunity against any kind of corruption okay my last question to you and this is uh regards the
15:21campaigning of the bjp um you are in bengal at present traveling across the state uh what is the bjp
15:30campaign going to be like after this order you know it's a matter between ed and the government of bengal
15:45and another party is the tmc but the thing is that bjp will you know ever the public that our chief
15:54minister is the single chief minister only chief minister sorry only chief minister of the uh country
16:02who has done this kind of heinous act of snatching the documents and the proof from the investigating
16:12agency and really it is shameful for the whole bengali community and bengal
16:21all right sukanda majumdar thank you for joining us and sharing your views we have tausif ahmad advocate
16:29and political analyst joining us uh gargi nandi roy is also a political analyst tausif uh looking at what
16:37will be seen as a big setback for mamata banerji and yes the timing is something that has been asked
16:45repeatedly by the tmc and other opposition leaders the ed is not responsible for it is what the supreme
16:52court has said no supreme court has not given any clinch it to ed rather the ed will have to uh you know
17:02explain and satisfy the court on the question that while under the law ed is required to notify the state
17:11police before conducting any uh rate or search in this case on 8th of january the ed started the rate at
17:196 45 a.m but the intimation email was sent at 11 30 a.m almost you know five or six hours later so the
17:29malefide the allegation of malefide on ed coupled with the fact that they have been sitting on this case
17:40from last two years two years ago the last statement was recorded dfi was launched six years ago the scam is
17:47allegedly from 10 years old therefore there are larger questions which emerge and if not answered
17:53shall lead to lawlessness if central agencies are working bona fide to probe a serious offense
18:02a question arises can they be obstructed by party activities that's what the supreme court has said today
18:10and the supreme court also took cognizance of the fact that the the the party chairman
18:19tindamul party chairman mamata banerji has a right to the confidential party documents that is that is
18:26lying with the ipac office or the residence of uh um mr jain and ed has no business to uh take uh
18:37seizure of the election related documents or political documents just before the election
18:44so the right of a political party to the confident confident documents related to yes yes so therefore
18:51there's a balance the question has to be you know weighed on the on the weighing scale the the verdict
18:58that are not allowed yet gargi you know this is the way uh the supreme court order is going to be read
19:07by the political parties of course you heard uh sukanta majumdar of the bjp uh he saw this as a supreme
19:13slap here is tausif who has his leanings clear he's seeing it otherwise uh gargi as as a political analyst
19:22what about you thank you maria thank you for inviting you know maria the country by now knows
19:30that there is no rule of law in west bengal but what we saw that day it crossed all the limit it
19:36she presently crossed the line between governance and intimidation so and we know that she has been a
19:42fascist ruler but what we saw that day was robbery in broad daylight by the fascist didi ameen of
19:49west bengal now having said that now tausif has been saying why so many years old case now i'll tell
19:56you why maria because there are other raids also happening simultaneously in october 2025 et raided a
20:06businessman linked to the coal scam krishna coil from there they got the fine which linked that scam to
20:13ipad now also norendra karkar and nero and to another business where they are being integrated
20:20so that's why that's how ed got those links to ipad so when they will get the link they will come now
20:26and even shubhendo odikari said how uh con you know a contractor there was a joel jivan project for
20:32which center gave eight thousand crore to the state so there was one contractor who got 178 crore
20:39he had to give 16 crore to ipad through kagdip access bank ask him to deny whatever i'm saying
20:47and taking the name of the businessman so that's why now ed went and why the ed did not inform the
20:53police force maria we all have seen how police force in west bengal have been reduced to personal
21:01escorts of the tmc leaders so do you think if police were informed beforehand ed could not have reached
21:07prateekjan's house they would have been arrested or they would have removed everything before the ed
21:12would have reached that's why in a state like west bengal the ed could not have informed the police
21:18because if they would have done so they would have reached prateekjan's office or residence
21:23that's for clear you know but the fact is that the election data is is is confidential
21:29if mamita bengal had concerns with regards to the election data it's confidential for any political
21:37party if it was confidential if it was a some related to you know all the political data she
21:45would have gone to the court that was not the way obviously to snatch to raid of existing ed rate have
21:51you ever seen in your lifetime of a journalist you are a very veteran senior respected journalist in your
21:58entire journalistic career maria can you please remember that you have seen anything like this
22:04i don't think you have and the law is same for every citizen in this country if you would have done
22:10that or i would have done what she did point taken of course it hasn't it hasn't been seen anything
22:17similar to that has not been seen but then you know as we know that uh mamita banerji reacts
22:22differently and and she perhaps took the uh you know took this uh move i mean is she is a political
22:31leader who's known to be a street fighter and that is the reason why the bjp is finding it tough
22:36in bengal at the moment so thank you so much for joining us okay what does that mean
22:53that the bengal the bengal again the bengal will win all right okay so we have heard two slogans
23:16already gargi and tausir thank you for joining us that's all from me on this edition of news track i'll
23:21be seeing you tomorrow thanks so much for watching
Be the first to comment