Calcutta High Court. File pic

Hours after the ED raided consultancy firm I-PAC's office, Pratik Jain, the co-founder of the election strategy agency, on Thursday afternoon filed a counter petition at a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court against the Enforcement Directorate (ED), news agency IANS reported.

The petition challenged the ED's raid and search operations earlier in the day at his residence at Loudon Street in central Kolkata as well as at the I-PAC's office on the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

The petition has been admitted by the single-judge bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh.

ED accuses CM Mamata Banerjee of misusing her position

Earlier in the day, ED also approached the same bench, accusing West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee of misusing her constitutional position, IANS reported. The investigation agency also accused her of creating hindrances to the official duties of central agency officials during raid and search operations.

As both the petitions, the first by the ED and then by Jain, are related to the same matter, they have been admitted by the same bench and will be heard simultaneously on Friday.

Banerjee had alleged that the ED had stolen documents belonging to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the name of conducting search operations at the two premises.

The central agency has countered the allegations by the CM and claimed that the raid and search operations were in connection with an alleged coal smuggling syndicate led by Anup Majee.

Furthermore, they also claimed that these operations were in no way related to I-PAC's association with any political party.

Meanwhile, TMC has issued a statement claiming that CM Banerjee will hit the streets against the ED's action on Friday.

The party stated that Banerjee will lead a protest rally from Jadavpur to Hazra Crossing in South Kolkata at 2 pm.

Mamata Banerjee visits I-PAC chief's home during ED raid

Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee visited the residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain amid an ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid, alleging that the central agency was attempting to confiscate the Trinamool Congress's (TMC's) internal documents, hard disks, and sensitive election-related data

(With inputs from IANS)