Overview
- The Enforcement Directorate, which argued Thursday that the case shows a breach of the rule of law, told the Supreme Court it was not claiming a collapse of constitutional machinery.
- The agency has filed an Article 32 petition, a route citizens use to ask the top court to enforce fundamental rights, to seek a CBI probe into alleged obstruction during the January 8 searches at I-PAC and a director's home.
- The bench said Wednesday that a chief minister walking into an ongoing search "put democracy in jeopardy," framing the issue as conduct by a constitutional office-holder rather than a Centre–state fight.
- The judges pressed both sides on whether a government agency or its officers can use Article 32, warning of a flood of similar cases, as the ED argued its officers' rights under Article 14 were hit and that local police cannot fairly investigate.
- I-PAC has paused ground work in West Bengal for 20 days citing legal issues, and the court fixed May 13 for the next hearing as the coal-smuggling and money-laundering probe continues.