Kolkata, Jan. 14 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday told the Calcutta High Court that it did not seize anything during its raid at the office of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) or from the residence of its co-founder Pratik Jain, and alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself took away items from both locations.

The High Court adjourned a separate petition filed by the ED against the West Bengal government in connection with the same raids, as the matter is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Justice Suvra Ghosh was hearing a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which sought directions for the preservation of personal and political data that it claimed may have been seized by the ED during the raids conducted on January 8, 2026.

However, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for the Central agency, submitted that the ED had seized nothing from either of the premises. He alleged that it was Mamata Banerjee who had illegally removed items from both locations.

Raju also questioned the maintainability of the petition, arguing that Banerjee had not been made a party to the proceedings.

Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for the TMC, urged the court to record the ED's submission that nothing had been seized from the two locations.

Disposing of the TMC's petition, Justice Ghosh observed that, in view of the submissions made by the Directorate of Enforcement and the Union of India, nothing further remained to be adjudicated in the matter.

The court also adjourned the petition filed by the ED seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the events of January 8, 2026, noting that ED had already filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court seeking "almost identical" relief.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter on Thursday. A bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Vipul M Pancholi will take up the writ petition filed by the ED under Article 32 of the Constitution.

The West Bengal government has also filed a caveat in the top court, seeking that no order should be passed without hearing it in connection with the ED raids against the political-consultancy firm.

The ED has named the State of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar, Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma and Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Kolkata) Priyabrata Roy as respondents in the petition.

The hearing on Wednesday was held with restricted courtroom entry, allowing only lawyers connected with the cases.

The direction to hold the hearings with regulated entry was given by Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul on Tuesday in view of unmanageable chaos inside the courtroom of Justice Ghosh on January 9, when these matters were to be taken up for hearing.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.