New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s raid of its Kolkata office and the home of its director Pratik Jain the city on Thursday in connection with an alleged coal smuggling and money laundering case “raises serious concerns and sets an unsettling precedent”, the I-PAC political consultancy firm said on Friday (January 9).I-PAC, which did not elaborate, added that it is cooperating with the investigation in compliance with the law and that it would continue its work “unfazed and unperturbed”.Dramatic scenes unfolded at I-PAC’s Kolkata office and Jain’s home on Thursday as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited both locations amid the ED’s searches. She was seen emerging from the latter carrying a green folder with documents inside. Police personnel were also seen carrying several files from I-PAC’s office and placing them in a car.Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress (TMC) and state government I-PAC has closely worked with since 2019, has alleged that ED personnel and Union home minister Amit Shah were “stealing” and “taking away” her party’s internal documents. The investigation agency has denied targeting any party or that its searches are linked to an election.I-PAC said in its statement that it has worked “in a professional advisory capacity” with political parties across ideological lines and that it neither contests elections nor holds political office.Thursday’s searches marked a “difficult and unfortunate day for a professional organisation like I-PAC”, it said, adding: “We believe this raises serious concerns and sets an unsettling precedent. Regardless, we have extended full cooperation and will continue to do so as required, engaging with the process in complete accordance and respect for the law.”It has “always upheld the highest standards of professional integrity” and is committed to “continuing our work unfazed and unperturbed” despite the ED’s searches.In a statement it released on Thursday, the ED alleged that its money laundering investigation in a coal smuggling case filed by the CBI in 2020 showed that a hawala operator involved in layering the proceeds of crime had “facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees” to I-PAC.Its searches were being conducted “in a peaceful and professional manner” until Banerjee arrived accompanied by police officials, who took away “key evidences” including physical documents and electronics from Jain’s home and I-PAC’s office, the ED said, adding that their actions had obstructed its investigation.“It is clarified that the search is evidence based and is not targeted at any political establishment. No party office has been searched. The search is not linked to any elections, and is part of regular crackdown on money laundering. The search is conducted strictly in accordance with established legal safeguards [sic],” the agency said in its communique.Both the ED and the TMC approached the Calcutta high court for intervention, with the agency seeking a probe against Banerjee for allegedly obstructing its investigation as well as the return of material she took with her, and the party asking that the directorate be restrained from ‘leaking’ information related to it, Bar and Bench reported.Complaining of commotion caused by a large number of advocates and others in her courtroom during its hearing on Friday, Justice Suvra Ghosh of the high court adjourned the matter to January 14.There were dramatic scenes on Friday too when eight TMC MPs who protested against the raids in front of Shah’s office in Delhi were detained by police.Banerjee led a protest march in Kolkata on Friday and filed two complaints against the ED’s searches – of Jain’s home and I-PAC’s office respectively – vis-a-vis which the city police have lodged FIRs, PTI reported.The former reportedly invokes BNS sections pertaining to criminal intimidation, theft and criminal trespass in addition to Section 66 of the IT Act, which deals with damages to computers committed dishonestly or fraudulently. The second case is “similar” to the first, the news agency cited police sources as saying.Like his firm, Jain too has been associated with the ruling West Bengal government, having met Banerjee at the state secretariat multiple times. Ahead of assembly elections, I-PAC is known to act as a bridge between the ruling party and the government regarding the implementation of welfare schemes.The consultancy firm has also been prominently associated with its former chief Prashant Kishor, who formally left it in 2021 and under whose leadership the consultancy had racked up an impressive record. Kishor now leads the Jan Suraaj Party based in Bihar.Under the Narendra Modi government, the ED has been granted extraordinary powers through amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which critics say allow the government to use the agency to target the BJP’s political opponents.The Supreme Court’s 2022 verdict upholding the amendments was highly controversial. A three-judge bench of the top court is currently considering a challenge to its judgment.A bench of the court had last year noted the low number of convictions the agency has secured relative to the number of cases it has recorded. It has similarly secured a low number of convictions of politicians as compared to the number of cases filed against them.