The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has added a new dimension to its ongoing legal battle with Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by trying to implead the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in it. The agency moved the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking to implead the MHA and DoPT in its legal wrangling with Mamata over her alleged attempt to foil ED’s search operation against the political consultancy firm, I-PAC, in Kolkata on January 8.
The ED has appealed to the apex court even before establishing the veracity of reports that WB Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty was also accompanying Mamata when she rushed to I-PAC chief Pratik Jain’s residence when the central agency’s search was underway. The development coincided with SC taking up ED’s original criminal writ petition.
While terming the January 8 incident as “serious,” the apex court issued notice to the Bengal CM and top state officials, including DGP Rajeev Kumar, and promised to look into the larger issue of state agencies interfering in actions of central agencies.
The fate of the ED’s fresh appeal seeking to implead the MHA and the DoPT will be decided by the Bengal govt’s response to the top court’s notice. The state govt has justified DGP Kumar accompanying Mamata to Jain’s residence by saying that the CM was a ‘Z-category protectee.’
The ED in its fresh appeal has sought “impleadment of proposed respondents 7-9” as party respondents in the present criminal writ petition. It is worth mentioning here that DoPT is respondent No. 7, the Home Ministry is respondent No. 8, and respondent No. 9 is the Bengal govt through its Chief Secretary.
It is pertinent here to list the other respondents in ED’s criminal petition filed before the top court.
In ED’s criminal petition, CM Mamata Banerjee is respondent No. 2, DGP Rajeev Kumar is respondent No. 3, Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma is respondent No. 4, Priyabrata Roy, DCP South Kolkata, is respondent No. 5, and CBI is respondent No. 6.
ED’s argument for impleading respondents 7-9 (DoPT, MHA, and Bengal CS) is that they are necessary/proper parties in the present matter to initiate actions against the erring senior police officers, who were allegedly party to the disruption of ED’s search proceedings.
This is not the first time that central agencies have got engaged in a legal tangle with IPS officer Rajeev Kumar. It should be recalled that way back in 2019, when he was Kolkata police commissioner, CBI had raided his residence. In retaliation, the state police team had detained CBI officers, leading to the agency approaching courts for seeking action against him. The case is pending before the SC.
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