The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday disposed of a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress seeking protection of confidential political data, reported Bar and Bench.

This came after the Enforcement Directorate told Justice Suvra Ghosh that it had not seized any documents during its searches at the premises of political consultancy firm I-PAC on January 8, Bar and Bench reported.

Appearing for the central agency, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju claimed that any documents or electronic devices removed from the premises were taken away by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and not by the ED.

The ED had conducted searches at I-PAC’s office in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area, the residence of the firm’s head Pratik Jain and the office of a trader in the city’s Posta neighbourhood on January 8 in connection with an investigation into alleged money laundering.

I-PAC, or the Indian Political Action Committee, has managed the Trinamool Congress’ election campaigns, including in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Banerjee had arrived at Jain’s home around noon while the search was underway and stayed for about 20 to 25 minutes. She then came out with a green file and claimed that the central agency’s officials were “taking away” party documents ahead of the Assembly elections.

The state is expected to head for polls in the next three to four months.

Following the raids, the Trinamool Congress and I-PAC moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the legality of the searches.

The ED also approached the court, alleging “illegal interference” during its search operations.

During the hearing on Wednesday, the High Court noted that written records of the searches showed that no documents were seized from the I-PAC office or Jain’s residence.

“In view of such submissions, nothing remains to be dealt with and the application is disposed of,” Live Law quoted the bench as saying.

The ED had also sought adjournment of its petition alleging interference by Banerjee during the searches, stating that a similar plea had been filed before the Supreme Court, Bar and Bench reported.

The High Court accepted this request.

The agency’s petition before the Supreme Court seeks an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into Banerjee allegedly obstructing its raids and the return of documents and electronic material that the chief minister is alleged to have taken.

The West Bengal government has also approached the Supreme Court to ensure that no ex parte orders are passed in the matter without hearing it first.

The ED had said that its searches were based on a first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation into an alleged coal smuggling syndicate that was used to “steal and illegally excavate coal from ECL [Eastern Coalfields Limited] leasehold areas of West Bengal”.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Police also registered first information reports against the ED based on two complaints filed by Banerjee.

Banerjee had alleged that the ED was confiscating the Trinamool Congress’ “documents and hard disks, which have details about our party candidates” for the elections.