Amid West Bengal Election fires, Mamata Banerjee appeals to CJI Surya Kant: 'Protect constitution, judiciary, democracy from...'

In a significant development in the I-PAC raid row, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Saturday, in a veiled attack on the BJP, urged the judiciary to protect the Constitution and democracy from a "disaster". The CM urged Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to protect people of the country from being wrongly targeted by "agencies". "Please protect the Constitution, democracy, judiciary, history and geography of the country from disaster,” she said.

Mamata Banerjee's appeal to CJI ahead of West Bengal election 2026

Addressing the gathering at the inauguration of the new building of the Circuit Bench, Jalpaiguri of the High Court at Calcutta, Mamata Banerjee asked the legal fraternity to aid the struggling junior lawyers. The Chief Minister said, "Nowadays, few things are important: the Constitution, citizens of this country, the judiciary, and the media. My humble regards to all of you, please take care of our new generation. The junior lawyers are struggling. They are not getting proper benefits. We want to see that they get proper benefits. My request to Chief Justice and all the judges is that please see, our Constitution must be protected from disaster, our democracy must be protected from disaster and our safety, security, history, geography and boundary - all should be protected."

“You (the CJI) are the guardian of our Constitution; we are under your legal guardianship. Please protect the people," said CM Banerjee. "The judiciary is the custodian of our Constitution. It is our request on behalf of all the people of this country that there should not be any casteism or religionism. Let us work together, let us speak for unity, let us think for unity, let us work for unity," she added. 

Mamata Banerjee on media trials 

Further, she asked the media not to indulge in a media trial and malign the image of the people."The media should not go for a media trial before finalising any cases. Nowadays, this is a trend of maligning people. So many agencies are defaming; there are deliberate attempts to defame. Please protect the people...Save democracy, save people, save democracy, save country, save constitution. We are under your custody. You are the guardians of the Constitution," Mamata said.


Mamata's appeal comes amid tensions between the Trinamool Congress government and the BJP-led Union government, with allegations of misuse of central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED has been investigating various cases, including a coal smuggling scandal, and Mamata Banerjee has accused the agency of overreach. The agency had conducted raids at I-PAC offices and Pratik Jain's residence, which led to a standoff with Banerjee and state police. The agency alleged Banerjee obstructed the investigation, removing key evidence and electronic devices. Banerjee denied these allegations, claiming the ED is acting on BJP's behest to disrupt TMC's election campaign. The Supreme Court has deemed the ED's allegations "very serious" and issued notices to the West Bengal government and senior police officials. The case is ongoing, with the ED seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged obstruction. 

(With inputs from agencies)