New Delhi/ Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has moved the Supreme Court against the West Bengal government, seeking the registration of an FIR by the CBI against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the state DGP, and the Kolkata Police Commissioner over alleged obstruction of a coal scam raid.
The development has sharply escalated the political confrontation between the Centre and the Trinamool Congress leadership.
According to petitions filed on Monday, the ED has accused Mamata Banerjee, DGP Rajiv Kumar, and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma of disrupting an January 8, 2026, search linked to the ₹2,742 crore case of coal smuggling. The raid was being carried out at the Salt Lake office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), which provides political and election strategy services to the TMC, and at the Loudon Street residence of I-PAC head Pratik Jain.
The agency has alleged that the Chief Minister reached the search spot around 12:05 pm with over 100 police personnel and that seized laptops, mobile phones, and documents were forcibly taken away in trunks from the ED team. The ED told the apex court that such conduct amounted to derailing a lawful investigation and turning the operation into a confrontation due to the “involvement of state machinery”.
I-PAC, which formerly worked closely with the TMC and helped shape its 2021 West Bengal Assembly election strategy, has been under ED scrutiny in connection with the older coal smuggling probe. The agency has requested the Supreme Court to direct the CBI to register an FIR and investigate the alleged obstruction by the Chief Minister and senior police officers.
Separately, three petitions on the same episode — one by the ED and two by the West Bengal government and TMC — are already pending before the Calcutta High Court. A scheduled hearing last Friday could not take place due to overcrowding and disturbance in the courtroom, and the matter is now listed for January 14.