It’s not okay, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday, disapproving of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s act of walking into the midst of an ongoing investigation and putting “democracy in jeopardy”.
The Enforcement Directorate, or ED, has accused Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and state officials of interfering with its investigation and searches at the offices of political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee, or I-PAC, which works with the Trinamool. The raids happened in early January as part of a money laundering investigation.
Ambedkar would have never thought such a situation will arise in India where a sitting Chief Minister would act this way, the Supreme Court observed orally.
“This is not a dispute between the state and the union. A chief Minister of any state cannot walk into the midst of an investigation, put the democracy in peril, and then say don’t convert this into a dispute between the state and the union,” the top court said.
“This is per se an act committed by an individual who happens to be the Chief Minister keeping the whole democracy in jeopardy,” the court said.
The top court said the Constitution framers would have disapproved of the act.
“You have taken us through writings of Seervai, Ambedkar, but none of them would have conceived this situation in this country that one day a sitting chief minister will walk into the office durin gan ongoing investigation,” the court said.