NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the FIRs registered by the West Bengal Police against Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in connection with the recent searches at the premises of political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its co-founder, Pratik Jain, in Kolkata.
Observing that the petitions raise serious questions of alleged interference by state agencies in a central investigation, a Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Vipul Pancholi issued notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar, Kolkata Police Commissioner and others on the ED’s pleas alleging obstruction during the search operations conducted last week.
The Justice Mishra-led Bench granted two weeks to the respondents to file their counter-affidavits, listing the matter for further hearing on February 3.