'As if it's Jantar Mantar!' SC 'disturbed' by ED's charge; agency says TMC asked people to come to HC before I-PAC raid hearing

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed that it was "disturbed" by the chaos at Calcutta high court on January 9 which led to the adjournment of the hearing on ED plea against Mamata Banerjee government over I-PAC raids. Reacting to the central agency's charge that TMC "instructed" people to go to the HC, SC remarked whether it was a protest site like Jantar Mantar."Kindly see what happened in this case. We approached the (Calcutta) High Court. This is what happens when mobocracy replaces democracy. This is what the high court records. I have placed on record Whatsapp chats of the law wing of the party in power. This was not spontaneous and they were instructed by the legal cell of the party to go there," PTI quoted SG Tushar Mehta saying. "Come everyone? As if it's Jantar Mantar!", remarked Justice Mishra.The SG pointed out that "buses and vehicles" had allegedly been arranged to ferry people to HC on January 9. He further said that prior to yesterday’s hearing, the acting chief justice had issued an administrative order restricting the entry of unauthorised persons into the courtroom. "The proceeding was live-streamed and the hearing was less than satisfactory. ED faced many difficulties and the microphone was constantly muted," Mehta said.As advocate Kapil Sibal commenced his submissions on behalf of Mamata, the bench observed that the incidents that unfolded in the Calcutta HC were disturbing. "We are disturbed by the manner in which the hearing in the High Court was last week adjourned due to commotion," Justice Mishra said.When the SG suggested that the gathering in the courtroom may have been intentional or unintentional, the judge responded, "intentional or not, the high court has recorded something", pointing to the fact that the high court itself had adjourned the matter after recording the reason as commotion.Calcutta HC proceedings were adjourned on January 9 after chaos disrupted the hearing in the ED–I-PAC matter and the Trinamool Congress’s counter-petition.The top court termed the ED’s allegation that Mamata obstructed its investigation as “very serious” and said it would examine whether state authorities can interfere with probes conducted by central agencies in serious cases. The court stayed the FIR filed by West Bengal police against ED officials and ordered that CCTV footage of the January 8 raids be preserved.The ED approached the top court after its officers allegedly faced resistance during searches at the I-PAC office and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain, in a coal smuggling case. While the ED claimed Banerjee entered the premises and took away “key” evidence, the chief minister and the TMC denied the charge and accused the agency of overreach.