Mamata's ‘Interference’ in ED's Raid on I-PAC is Very Serious, Says SC; Maharashtra City Bodies Go to Polls Amid Confusion Over Ink, Voter Lists; Chinese Data Puts India's Trade Deficit at Record High
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January 15, 2026
Sidharth Bhatia
Voting took place on Thursday for Maharashtra’s municipal corporations and while it was largely peaceful, it was marred by instances of electors being told their names weren’t registered against their usual polling booth and allegations that the indelible ink applied to voters’ fingernails were actually delible. Big-shot politicians in Mumbai were among those who said they or their relatives had to unexpectedly travel to a different polling station to vote. The lead-up to the polls also saw controversy over delays in affidavits being made public and an extended window for door-to-door campaigning, reports Zeeshan Shaikh.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and state police officers’ interference in the Enforcement Directorate’s raids on I-PAC last week “is very serious”, the Supreme Court said on Thursday, issuing notice to the state government, Banerjee and senior police officials and also staying the state police’s investigation into ED agents’ conduct. A Union government agency cannot interfere with parties’ election work, but ‘if it carries out bona fide work, a question arises over whether it can be restricted from doing so under the pretext of party activities’, Debby Jain cites the bench of Justices Prashant Mishra and Vipul Pancholi as saying.
The judges also took a dim view of the fact that the Calcutta high court last Friday had to adjourn proceedings on the ED and Trinamool Congress’s counter-pleas on the raids due to commotion created by a large number of lawyers. Resuming its hearing yesterday, the high court had disposed of the TMC’s petition seeking protection of party data that may have been taken during the raids after the agency submitted that it did not seize anything. It also deferred its hearing of the ED’s plea seeking a CBI probe into last week’s events as the Supreme Court is seized of the issue.
Meanwhile, this is how senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy schooled additional solicitor general SV Raju yesterday during the ED vs TMC hearing at Calcutta High court.
In a bid to halt the steady erosion of its fighter squadrons, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is believed to be considering the imminent procurement of 114 Dassault Rafale jets under the long-delayed Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme. The move, if it materialises, would be steeped in strategic and political irony, says Rahul Bedi.
India’s trade deficit with China stood at $37.8 billion in 2014. After 11 years of the Modi government,
