New Delhi, April 24 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday told the Supreme Court that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's actions in obstructing its probe into political strategy firm I-PAC reflect a "pattern" of absence of rule of law in the state, even as it clarified that it was not suggesting a "breakdown of constitutional machinery" in the state.

In a plea filed in January, ED officers alleged violations of their fundamental rights and sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the January 8 incident, when the agency's investigation into I-PAC was allegedly obstructed by the chief minister and senior police officers, who entered the premises during a raid and took away documents linked to the Rs.2,4...