Files taken from computer of company linked to Abhishek Banerjee won't be used as evidence: ED to Calcutta High Court

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday told the Calcutta High Court that it will not use the 16 files downloaded from the computer of a firm linked to Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee as evidence in any probe against him. [Abhishek Banerjee vs Directorate of Enforcement]..This submission came after Banerjee filed an application before single-judge Justice Tirthankar Ghosh last week, alleging that the ED had downloaded these files during a raid last month in a company linked to Banerjee, Leaps & Bounds, without the consent of the company.Banerjee is the chief executive officer of the company and had also served as its director for a while. While Banerjee claimed that one of the ED officers had downloaded nearly 16 files from the company's computer, the agency maintained that its officer, out of anxiety for his child, had only used the computer to check the details of his child's hostel. On Monday, the central agency through Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, told the bench that the agency would not consider these 16 files in question as evidence and that the ED would certify the same on a letter. The bench accepted the submission and recorded it in its order. "Mr. SV Raju, learned ASG submits that the Enforcement Directorate would on a covering letter certify that these 16 downloaded files which have been downloaded and print out of which are being handed over to this court by the CFSL Authorities would not be used in any evidence in any criminal proceedings by the Enforcement Directorate or any other Agency," the order stated. .Further, the bench ordered Mithilesh Kumar Mishra, the assistant director of the ED, along with an officer from the Cyber Cell of the Kolkata Police, to co-ordinate and co-operate with the CFSL authorities. The printout of the files in question is to be produced before the Court by 4.30 PM on September 6, the Court added. .Earlier, Justice Tirthankar Ghosh had deferred pronouncing his judgment on Banerjee's plea against the ED probe in the school jobs for cash scam, after the application raising dispute over these 16 files was filed. .Senior Advocate Kishore Datta along with advocates Sanjay Basu, Soumen Mohanty, Ayan Poddar, Piyush Kr Ray, Agnish Basu and Riddhi Jain appeared for Banerjee. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju along with advocates Phiroze Edulji, Samrat Goswami, Zoheb Hossain, Anamika Pandey, Amrita Pandey and Ghanashyam Pandey represented the ED..[Read Order]