High Court Stays Notices Issued To Probe Agency Officers By Bengal Police

New Delhi:

The Delhi Excessive Courtroom has stayed the 2 notices issued to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) officers by the West Bengal Police, in accordance with an FIR lodged by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee.

The courtroom stated there was no benefit within the preliminary objection raised by the police on the maintainability of the petition filed by the ED and its three officers.

“It’s mandatory to think about the query of interim reduction. It’s a settled proposition of regulation that the three circumstances are required to be established for grant of any interim reduction: a powerful prima facie case, stability of comfort and irreparable harm to the petitioner. In view of the discussions hereinabove, I discover that the current case is a match case for grant of ad-interim reduction.

“Subsequently, in view of the identical, the operation of the notices dated July 22, 2021 and August 21, 2021 handed qua the petitioners in FIR dated April 5, 2021 registered by the respondents is stayed until additional orders,” Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar stated, within the order which was handed on December 7 and made out there on Saturday.

The courtroom stated the West Bengal authorities and police could file their response to the petition inside a interval of 4 weeks and the petitioners could file a rejoinder affidavit inside two weeks thereafter and listed the matter for additional listening to on February 18, subsequent yr.

The ED has alleged that West Bengal Police is performing on the behest of Mr Banerjee, who “enjoys clout” within the state authorities, to derail the probe into an alleged coal pilferage rip-off.

It has sought a course to quash the 2 notices issued in opposition to its officers pursuant to the FIR lodged by Mr Banerjee in April.

In April, on a criticism by the Trinamool MP, an FIR was lodged by police in West Bengal beneath the Indian Penal Code for alleged fee of offences of forgery of information, forgery for the aim of harming repute and defamation.

Subsequently, notices had been issued to sure ED officers, which the company has claimed amounted to an abuse of means of regulation.

The courtroom stated it has perused the contents of the standing report filed by the West Bengal Police however it will not be advisable to debate the identical intimately within the current order as it’d prejudice the case of both of the events. Nevertheless, the standing report fails to instantly level in the direction of the particular position of the three ED officers within the fee of the alleged offences within the FIR, it stated.

On the purpose of jurisdiction of the Delhi Excessive Courtroom to adjudicate the matter, it stated prima facie it’s clear from the factual conspectus that the notices had been served to individuals in Delhi, who’re residing within the nationwide capital and the petitioners have raised a substantial case of mala fides on the idea of info emanating from Delhi.

“The subsequent concern is with regard to the maintainability of the petition filed by the Directorate of Enforcement. It has been argued that the petitioner no. 1 (ED) being the ‘State’ itself, can’t preserve a writ petition beneath Article 226 of the Structure. It might nonetheless be famous that the petition has been filed and affirmed additionally by petitioners no. 2, 3 and 4 (ED officers) who’re pure individuals and in addition petitioners within the current case being the precise aggrieved individuals.

“In view of the identical, I discover no benefit within the preliminary objection as to the maintainability of the petition on this floor. The query of regulation whether or not the petitioner no. 1 can preserve writ petition beneath Article 226 might be determined at a later stage,” the decide stated.

The counsel for West Bengal authorities had opposed the plea for grant of interim safety by the courtroom on the bottom that the investigation within the case was at a vital stage and the repeated non-appearance of the officers earlier than the state police indicated that they had been “avoiding the investigation”.

Mr Banerjee, represented by his lawyer, had instructed the courtroom that regardless of him being the complainant, he was not made a celebration to the petition by the ED.

Advocate Amit Mahajan, showing for the ED, had argued that the complainant was not a “mandatory social gathering” to the current proceedings and whereas there have been no objections in opposition to the continuation of investigation within the case, its officers shouldn’t be harassed.

He had contended that the FIR was filed solely to derail the continued investigation within the alleged coal rip-off case in opposition to the complainant and “change its consequence”.

Mr Mahajan had additionally argued that the West Bengal Police lacked the facility to concern notices to individuals outdoors its jurisdiction and knowledgeable that contemporary notices had been obtained in October as nicely.

In its petition earlier than the courtroom, the ED has stated that with a purpose to pressurise its officers probing the cash laundering case in opposition to him, Mr Banerjee, who’s the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and “enjoys clout” within the state authorities, lodged the FIR.

The ED has alleged that the notices issued on July 22 and August 21 are obviously unlawful, mala fide and a “counter blast” to the investigation within the coal pilferage case.

“So as to pressurise the petitioners/IOs investigating the case associated to unlawful coal mining, Abhishek Banerjee lodged an FIR on April 5, 2021, in opposition to a information channel and in furtherance of the identical, notices have been issued to the IOs investigating the case of unlawful coal mining by the West Bengal Police. The stated FIR has been registered with a malafide intention to derail the investigation beneath PMLA being carried out by the Directorate of Enforcement,” it has added.

It has alleged that the issuance of notices in opposition to ED officers is “malafide and with the indirect motive and intent at stifling the honest and neutral investigation being undertaken by the Enforcement Directorate for unearthing giant monetary scams / frauds going down within the State of West Bengal and the nation”.

It has additionally claimed that the motive behind registration of the FIR and the next issuance of notices is “solely to harass the officers of the Directorate and to make use of the State Police Equipment to halt the investigation being carried out by the officers of the Directorate in opposition to extremely positioned individuals within the State Authorities of West Bengal and their suspected position within the offence of cash laundering”.

(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)