Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned to February 18 the hearing on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has accused the West Bengal government, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, of obstructing its search operations linked to an alleged coal pilferage scam.
A Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Sandeep Mehta deferred the matter after being informed that senior advocate Kapil Sibal was unwell. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta agreed to the adjournment.
The plea stems from January 8 searches conducted by the ED at the Kolkata office of political consultancy I-PAC and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain, as part of a money-laundering probe into the alleged multi-crore coal pilferage scam. The agency has alleged obstruction by senior state functionaries.
On January 15, the apex court termed the allegations “very serious” and agreed to examine whether a state’s law enforcement agencies can interfere with a central agency’s probe into serious offences. It stayed FIRs filed in West Bengal against ED officials and directed the state police to preserve CCTV footage of the raids.
The court also issued notices to the West Bengal government, the chief minister, Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar and other senior officers on the ED’s plea seeking a CBI probe against them for alleged interference.
The matter will now be heard on February 18.