New Delhi, 18 Feb 2026 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday witnessed a sharp exchange between the West Bengal government and the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), with the State alleging that the anti-money laundering agency was being “weaponised” against political opponents, and the ED countering that it was, in fact, being “terrorised”.
Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the West Bengal government, told a Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice K.V. Viswanathan that “They will have to justify how an agency can be weaponised like this.” Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the ED, responded: “No, agency is not weaponised. The agency has been terrorised.”
The brief but pointed exchange took place during the hearing of the ED’s petition seeking registration of an FIR and a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged obstruction of its search operations at the Kolkata office of political consultancy firm I-PAC and at the residence of its co-founder, Pratik Jain.
The ED has sought a CBI investigation against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar and other officials. I-PAC has worked closely with the Trinamool Congress since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the case raises important questions regarding Article 32 of the Constitution. “I will also address on the constitutional principle,” he said, referring to the scope of Article 32.
The State government has opposed the maintainability of the ED’s petition under Article 32, contending that the provision is meant to protect citizens against violations of their fundamental rights by the State.
Responding to the Solicitor General, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the State, said the Court’s earlier order had kept the question of maintainability “fully open”.
The Bench also issued notice on a connected petition filed by one Nishant Kumar. Opposing the notice, senior counsel for the State Menaka Guruswamy described him as a “questionable character” whose PILs had been disallowed multiple times.
Earlier, on January 15, 2026, the Court had directed State authorities to preserve CCTV footage and storage devices from the searched premises and surrounding areas. It had also stayed FIRs registered by the West Bengal Police against ED officers involved in the searches.
The ED alleges that documents and electronic devices were removed when Chief Minister Banerjee entered the premises during the search. Banerjee has maintained that the materials related to her political party.
The matter will be heard next on March 18, 2026.
Pramod kumar is a Senior Journalist, Covering Supreem Court of India
