Kolkata: A Delhi court on Thursday, April 30, granted Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) co-founder and director Vinesh Chandel bail a day after the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded on Wednesday, April 29.
I-PAC was the political consultancy hired by Mamata Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) to manage their campaign for the Assembly elections.
However, just weeks before the major polling phases in the state began, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Chandel on April 13 in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam and coal pilferage in West Bengal.
Following the arrest, TMC leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee, slammed the move as “politically motivated” to stall their campaign, as the party had to start afresh in the middle of elections.
The case stems from the first information report (FIR) filed by the Delhi Police. The agency had raided the I-PAC office in Kolkata’s Salt Lake in January, leading to a public stand-off with Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
On April 14, the court had allowed the ED to quiz Chandel in its custody for 10 days, saying there are reasons to believe that he was actively involved in processes and activities connected with the generation, diversion and possession of proceeds of crime worth several crores.
The ED alleged that their investigation revealed I-PAC was involved in the laundering of “proceeds of crime” amounting to roughly Rs 50 crore. TMC supporters argued that the arrest and raid were tactics to disrupt the “level playing field” for fair elections.
In a significant development, as the polling ended in the state with the second phase, the court on Thursday granted Chandel regular bail. The Enforcement Directorate, in a rare occurrence, did not oppose the bail application.
Strict “twin conditions” were not triggered against the I-PAC director due to the lack of objection, although Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal imposed several bail conditions.
