The West Bengal Government has questioned the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) move to approach the Supreme Court for a CBI probe into alleged obstruction during raids at political consultancy I-PAC’s offices. The raids involved Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and State officials. The State government asked if the petition is valid, saying a similar case is already pending before the Calcutta High Court. On January 15, a Bench led by Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra stayed the Kolkata Police probe against ED officials who searched I-PAC's office and the residence of co-founder Pratik Jain on January 8. State police claimed sensitive election records of the ruling Trinamool Congress, which I-PAC advises, were "stolen" by ED officers during the raids. Complaints against ED were filed at Shakespeare Sarani and Bidhannagar Electronic Complex Police Stations. The State argued in its response that there should be no "parallel proceedings" before the High Court and Supreme Court. It claimed the ED did not have the fundamental right to file a writ petition in the top court. Further, West Bengal said ED lacked authority for "omnibus search and seizure" and accused the agency of violating privileged communications. The ED wants a CBI probe against State and police personnel for obstructing the raids. These raids are part of an investigation into a ₹2,742-crore coal smuggling case. The Supreme Court Bench noted the case raises "serious" questions about the authority of Central agencies like ED and State interference. The Bench said,"It is necessary to examine this issue so that offenders are not allowed to be protected under the shield of law enforcement agencies of a particular State. There are larger questions involved here. If left undecided, the situation may become worse and a situation of lawlessness may prevail in some States, given different governments."