New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday flagged concern over the enormous disturbance and commotion in the Calcutta High Court on January 9 on account of an unmanageable crowd which forced it to adjourn the scheduled hearing of cases related to the ED’s search and seizure operations at political consultancy firm I-PAC’s office.
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), told a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Vipul Pancholi that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) legal wing circulated WhatsApp messages asking people to gather in the court.
“Kindly see what happened in this case. We approached the (Calcutta) High Court. This is what happens when mobocracy replaces democracy. This is what the high court records,” Mehta said.
He said a large number of advocates and other individuals entered the courtroom, creating an enormous disturbance and commotion. The bench said it was not conducive to hearing, he added.
“I have placed on record Whatsapp chats of the law wing of the party in power. This was not spontaneous and they were instructed by the legal cell of the party to go there,” Mehta said.
The bench then remarked orally, “Come, everyone? As if it’s Jantar Mantar.” Mehta said the high court was converted into Jantar Mantar.
“Buses and vehicles were arranged,” the SG added.
He said the TMC filed a petition on Wednesday and the Acting Chief Justice had to pass an order that nobody except lawyers appearing in the case would be permitted to enter the courtroom.
“The proceeding was live-streamed and the hearing was less than satisfactory. ED faced many difficulties and the microphone was constantly muted,” Mehta said.
As senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mamata Banerjee, began his submissions, the bench said that the incidents in the Calcutta High Court were disturbing.
“We are disturbed by the manner in which the hearing in the High Court was last week adjourned due to commotion,” Justice Mishra said.
Sibal assured the court that it will not be repeated.
“Yesterday, hearing took place. Without any ruckus, ED sought adjournment yesterday,” he said.
The top court described the ED’s allegation that Banerjee caused “obstruction” in its probe as “very serious” and agreed to examine whether a state’s law-enforcing agencies can interfere with any central agency’s investigation into any serious offence.
It stayed the FIR filed in West Bengal against ED officials who raided the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) office and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain, on January 8 and directed the state police to protect the CCTV footage of the raids.
The ED’s plea in the apex court follows events from January 8, when ED officials faced obstructions during the probe agency’s raids at the office of political consultancy firm I-PAC in Salt Lake and the residence of Jain in Kolkata in connection with a coal smuggling case.
The probe agency has claimed that Banerjee entered the premises and took away the “key” evidence related to the probe.
The chief minister has accused the central agency of overreach, while her party, the TMC, has denied the ED’s allegation of “obstructing” its probe. The state’s police have registered an FIR against ED officers. PTI PKS PKS KSS KSS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.