DMK Welcomes Supreme Court Stay on ED Probe, Calls It a Blow to Efforts to Malign Tamil Nadu Govt

DMK Welcomes Supreme Court Stay on ED Probe: The Supreme Court's pullback of Enforcement Directorate (ED) probes for money laundering proceedings against a state-run liquor organisation was hailed on Thursday by Tamil Nadu’s ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which called the matter a "setback" to the BJP’s efforts to "malign" the state government.

A bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih reprimanded the ED saying it has been "crossing all limits" in the probe of some cases.

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DMK leader R.S. Bharathi cited the order and said they hope the Union government stops the misuse of the ED. “The ED has become an agency to blackmail across India, which is what even the Supreme Court pointed out,” he said. He also alleged that there have been incidents of bribery faced by ED officials in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

TASMAC had moved the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court order of April 23, which had dismissed the petitions filed to declare the ED's searches at the corporation's headquarters in Chennai as illegal.

On questions being raised about the legality of ED's actions in the registration of a case against a Corporation, the Supreme Court orally observed. “How can you register a case against a corporation? You may register against individuals, but how against a corporation?” the bench asked additional solicitor general SV Raju.

The court said that the ED had registered cases against officials of TASMAC but had remained silent about the predicate offence. “Where is the predicate offence?” the court asked. It said the ED had been overreaching its powers when Raju said the predicate offence was an alleged multi-crore scam and that the agency had done “nothing wrong”.

"Where is the predicate offence?" asked the court. The court felt that the ED was overreaching with its powers when Raju mentioned the predicate offence to be an alleged multi-crore scam and that the agency had done nothing wrong.

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Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi represented TASMAC and its employees, stating that the claim was that ED exceeded its authority by cloning mobile phones and by seizing personal devices without due process. Sibal urged the court to direct that no data derived from these devices be utilized.

The Supreme Court last month refused to entertain the Tamil Nadu government’s plea to transfer the case against the ED's raid on TASMAC and the subsequent search and seizure operations from the Madras high court.

The high court had come to the conclusion that the ED was validly exercising its powers to conduct raids and searches. It further added that the broad claims of fundamental rights violations alleged by the TASMAC employees were unsustainable. The court said that minor inconveniences cannot be permitted to obstruct an otherwise legitimate probe.

Last week, the ED interrogated TASMAC's Managing Director S Visakan. On March 13, ED said it unearthed irregularities amounting to ₹1,000 crore, data implicating transfer postings, transport, bar license tenders favouring a few distilleries, interdiction orders, and the illegal overcharging of ₹10-30 per bottle.

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