Supreme Court rejects West Bengal Govt's plea for Adjournment in ED's case over I-PAC Raid

The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down a plea raised on behalf of the State of West Bengal for the adjournment of the hearing of the petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to the I-PAC office raid.

A bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice NV Anjaria was hearing a writ petition filed by the ED against the State of West Bengal over the alleged interference made by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with the ED's raid of the office of the I-PAC, the political consultant of the Trinamool Congress party. 

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, opposed the state plea request, saying that it was a tactic to delay the hearing. 

Pointing out that the rejoinder was filed four weeks ago, the SG said that there was enough time to seek instructions to file a response. 

"If you want to delay the matter, let's at least have a decent ground," SG said.

The ED had earlier disputed the state's version and contended that materials were 'removed' from the premises during search without its consent.