Kolkata:The face-off between the Centre and the West Bengal government over the Enforcement Directorate's raids on the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and its co-founder Pratik Jain escalated on Friday with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee taking out a protest rally on the streets of Kolkata and the BJP accusing her of being knee-deep in corruption.

Justice Suvra Ghosh, the Calcutta High Court judge hearing various petitions on the issue, also left the courtroom, citing excessive crowding. Since the high court will not be functioning over the weekend, the case will now be taken up only on Wednesday.

I-PAC, a political consultancy firm, has been assisting the Trinamool Congress with strategy for the Bengal Assembly elections later this year and the ED had alleged that Banerjee walked out with a laptop.

phone and documents from Jain's house during the raids, conducted in connection with a coal smuggling case, on Thursday. 

In its petition, which was being heard on Friday, the probe agency alleged Banerjee had misused her constitutional post by hindering officials who were doing their duty during the raids at the I-PAC office and Jain's house. It also called for a CBI probe into the matter, including the role of the chief minister. 

Source:Ndtv