The Enforcement Directorate’s battle with West Bengal authorities has reached a boiling point. In a bold move, the ED filed a new application in the Supreme Court seeking the ouster of DGP Rajeev Kumar, whom it accuses of sabotaging raids on I-PAC, the Trinamool Congress’s poll consultancy powerhouse.
Background reveals that I-PAC played a pivotal role in TMC’s 2021 assembly victory and 2024 national campaign strategies. ED sleuths raided its Kolkata premises last month, seizing digital records pointing to unaccounted funds funneled through shell companies. But the operation hit a wall when state police, under DGP Kumar’s orders, cordoned off the sites and prevented evidence collection.
Documents attached to the plea paint a picture of high-level protection. Emails and call logs allegedly show Kumar directing subordinates to ‘secure’ I-PAC premises, raising questions about his role in past Saradha and Narada scandals where the Supreme Court had previously sidelined him.
This isn’t ED’s first rodeo with Bengal. Similar standoffs marked probes into school recruitment scams and PDS frauds. The petition invokes Article 131, urging judicial oversight to prevent state overreach into Union matters.
Opposition leaders from BJP and Congress have rallied behind ED, demanding a CBI takeover of Bengal policing. TMC, however, frames it as harassment of professionals. ‘I-PAC is a legitimate firm; this is vendetta politics,’ asserted a party spokesperson.
With hearings imminent, stakeholders watch closely. A DGP removal could trigger administrative upheaval, boost central agency morale, and signal zero tolerance for probe interference in poll-bound states.
