Senior lawyers Shyam Divan and Kapil Sibal, appearing for Bengal and the Chief Minister, said the ED is just a government department and if one department or government is allowed to file a petition against another department or government for violation of fundamental rights, it will set a wrong precedent.He urged the Supreme Court to refer the issue to a larger five-judge bench for an official decision as it would have a wide-ranging impact on the federal structure which is one of the basic features of the Constitution. Advocates said that India cannot be turned into a unitary non-federal country.Sibal said, “No agency or officer can claim fundamental right to investigate. I do not know how the issue of fundamental right comes to the fore. Officers have statutory powers, not fundamental rights. Their solution is not in the writ petition but in the Indian Code of Justice (BNS).”Diwan said, “ED is not a judicial entity…It is nothing beyond a government department. It has no personality in itself and the Article 32 petition is not maintainable. If this is allowed then a situation may arise where Article 32 is used by one department against another, or between the Center and the states. This will completely bypass the checks and balances inherent in the constitutional framework.“The Supreme Court was hearing petitions filed by the ED and its officials against the state government, the Chief Minister, the then Kolkata Police Commissioner and other officials of the state, seeking a CBI inquiry against them for not giving permission to conduct raids at various places in Kolkata, including the I-PAC office, on January 8 in connection with the money laundering probe linked to the coal ‘scam’ case.The outcome of this trial will be important as there are frequent clashes between the Center and opposition ruled states, with non-NDA states accusing the Center of using its agencies, especially the CBI and ED, for political purposes and the Center accusing the states of protecting their corrupt ministers and officials by not allowing their agencies to function.According to the ED, CM Mamata along with senior TMC leaders and state police officials arrived at the I-PAC premises being searched, clashed with its officials and allegedly took away some files and digital devices, hampering its investigation. After the incident, Bengal Police filed three FIRs against ED officials.