Emotions can’t go out of hand: Top Court on Mamata Banerjee vs ED
Mangalore Today News Network
New Deli, January 15, 2026: The Supreme Court today said it is "very much disturbed" by the chaos in the Calcutta High Court during the hearing related to the ongoing face-off between the Enforcement Directorate and the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress. The court noted that it is a "serious issue" and that it intends to issue notice in the matter.
The Enforcement Directorate has accused Banerjee and West Bengal officials of interfering with its investigation and searches at the offices of political consultancy firm I-PAC, which works with the Trinamool.
Appearing for the central agency, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta accused Banerjee of "theft" and said she took evidence from the residence of IPAC co-founder Pratik Jain. "This kind of act will encourage state police officers to aid and abet such cases," he said, and demanded the suspension of Bengal’s Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar and other top cops.
"This is mobocracy," Mehta told the court, describing the chaos in Calcutta High Court on January 9 when a battery of lawyers not linked to the case disrupted the proceedings, leading the judge to adjourn the hearing.
The bench of Justice Prashant Mishra and Justice Vipul Pancholi asked if the high court was converted into Jantar Mantar. Solicitor General Mehta said a WhatsApp message asked lawyers to come to the court at a specific time, leading to the chaos. "Now see what happens when mobocracy overtakes democracy. See what the High Court judge observes in the order. It notes a huge number of lawyers gathered, creating commotion. She stated that the environment in the court was not conducive to a hearing," he said, adding that Trinamool’s legal cell mobilised the lawyers.
The high court restricted access to the subsequent hearings and allowed only lawyers related to the matter. The high court quashed Trinamool’s petition after the Enforcement Directorate said it had not seized any documents during its searches. The Trinamool has alleged that the central agency has seized confidential documents linked to the party.
Mehta said that "this is not the first time" that Mamata Banerjee has done this and urged the top court to settle the issue once and for all.
Appearing for Banerjee, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal questioned the need for the ED to go to Bengal ahead of the Assembly polls. "The last development in the coal scam case took place in February 2024. What were they doing there in 2026. We all know IPAC takes care of elections in West Bengal. There is a formal contract between IPC and TMC," he said.
"Election data is confidential and it is all kept there. There will be a lot of info on candidates etc. Once you have info, how do we fight the election? Chairman (Banerjee) has the right to protect it and thus went there," he said.
The bench told Sibal that he cannot stop it from issuing notice in the matter. "If they had any intention to seize your election data, they would have taken it, but they did not. You cannot stop us from issuing notice." Sibal replied, "Of course we can’t, we are only trying to persuade you."
Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Bengal government and DGP, pointed to the Enforcement Directorate raising the issue in both the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court. Referring to the chaos on January 9, he said, "Yes you had an issue on January 9 but that cannot be an excuse to ride two different horses. Sometimes emotions go out of hand and we understand what the court is saying. Relevant test is yesterday," he said. The bench replied, "Emotions cannot go out of hand repeatedly."