Supreme Court to hear ED plea against bail granted to accused in West Bengal coal scam case

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Enforcement Directorate's plea challenging the Delhi High Court's June 16, 2025 order granting anticipatory bail to Anup Majee in a 2020 money laundering case. A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi sought Majee's response to the ED's petition and posted the matter for hearing in September. The court questioned the ED about the delay in seeking custodial interrogation and, according to Majee's counsel, Majee had cooperated with the probe on several occasions after obtaining protection from the court. The ED argued Majee had remained absconding for a long period and initially did not cooperate; Majee's senior advocate Siddhartha Dave contended that custodial interrogation was no longer necessary. The proceedings touch on the broader investigation into the alleged scam, which the ED claims involved illegal excavation with alleged links to political figures from the All India Trinamool Congress.

The most recent searches in the case were conducted on January 8 at multiple locations, including premises in Kolkata linked to the political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and one of its directors, Pratik Jain. The ED later alleged that former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had entered Mr. Jain's residence during the raids and “taken away key evidence,” a claim Banerjee denied, saying the agency was attempting to seize documents related to the party’s election strategy from I-PAC premises ahead of state Assembly elections.

The Delhi High Court, on June 16, 2025, granted anticipatory bail to Anup Majee in a money laundering case registered in 2020 linked to the coal scam in West Bengal. The ED contended that Majee was absconding and that coal to the tune of around ₹2,742.32 crore had been misappropriated from the leasehold areas of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited. The case implicates Majee as a central figure in the alleged illegal mining operation, with several All India Trinamool Congress leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira Banerjee and her family members, under investigation in connection with the scam. The High Court noted that the investigation had been ongoing for nearly five years and that summons had been issued multiple times, yet no arrest had been made by the ED; the bench also observed delays in custodial interrogation and asked for further cooperation from Majee as allowed by law.