The Supreme Court on Thursday gave notices to the government of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the state police after petitions were presented by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the state government, claiming that the state government had impeded its raids on the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) premises last week and that the government had also removed important evidence.
In its hearing, the apex court noted that the plea made by the ED posed serious and far reaching questions which when unanswered, the rule of law was at risk of collapsing. The court emphasized the necessity of judicial review of the issue citing issues of integrity of the law enforcement process, according to news agency PTI.
The bench submitted the petitions of ED to resume hearing on February 3 and provided interim orders to preserve the evidence concerning the case. In these instructions, it was ordered by the court that the West Bengal police provide security and protection of CCTV footage taken inside the I-PAC premises on which the raids were carried out.
The Supreme Court was very critical towards the state government and made the comment that there was need to delve into the case itself in order to make sure that the possible culprits would not be hiding under the pretext of the state law enforcing bodies. The court emphasized that legalization of this kind of protection would cast doubt on the effectiveness of investigative agencies and would destroy the confidence of people in the justice system.
The ED has also accused its officials of being hindered with in the discharge of their duties during the raids and that evidence was stolen forcefully and therefore the agency has requested an independent investigation by the CBI. The incident has led to a political and legal debate, with the main agency saying that state authorities have meddled.
The intervention of the Supreme Court can be considered an important development in the case because it introduces the actions of the state officials and the position of law enforcement agencies to judicial check.
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