Breaking: Enforcement Directorate storms Calcutta High Court with explosive allegations against Mamata Banerjee, charging the West Bengal CM with derailing their I-PAC money laundering sweep. The petition seeks immediate court orders to neutralize what ED terms ‘unprecedented political sabotage.’
Unpacking the saga, ED’s October blitz on I-PAC unearthed ledgers implicating high-profile TMC functionaries in siphoning corporate donations via layered entities. Valued at tens of crores, these funds allegedly greased TMC’s path to power in crucial hustings.
The ED contends Banerjee’s media blitz—denouncing raids as ‘fascist tactics’—constitutes prima facie interference, citing panicked deletions of server data post her speeches. ‘Witnesses are vanishing, documents incinerated; this is textbook obstruction,’ thundered ED’s advocate.
TMC’s riposte labels the move ‘pre-poll vendetta,’ with Banerjee rallying cadres against ‘ED’s tamasha.’ Legal heavyweights predict the bench might impose speech curbs, a first for a sitting CM. Opposition cheers the development, hoping it pierces TMC’s invincibility aura.
Beyond immediate optics, this showdown tests constitutional balances, spotlighting CAG reports on Bengal’s fiscal opacity. With by-elections looming, every court whisper carries electoral weight, keeping Bengal’s political pot simmering.