'ED crossing all limits': Supreme Court raps probe agency over TASMAC raids
The top court expressed strong disapproval of the agency’s actions, stating that the ED was “crossing all limits.”
The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed all ongoing investigation by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) into alleged irregularities at Tamil Nadu’s state-run liquor distribution arm, the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC).
A bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih also rebuked the ED adding that the central agency had been “crossing all limits” while conducting investigations into some recent cases.
The court issued a notice to ED on a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by TASMAC challenging the April 23 order of the Madras high court that had dismissed a batch of three writ petitions filed by the state and TASMAC to declare as illegal a search and seizure
operation carried out by the ED at the corporation’s headquarters in Chennai between March 6 and 8, 2025 in connection with a money laundering case.
The Supreme Court bench orally questioned the legality of the ED’s actions, particularly its decision to register a case against a corporation.
“How can you register a case against a corporation? You may register against individuals, but how against a corporation?” the bench asked ED counsel additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju.
The court noted that ED had already registered FIRs against several high ranking officials of TASMAC but was silent on the predicate offence in the case. “Where is the predicate offence?” the bench asked.
When Raju said the predicate offence was an alleged multi crore money laundering case and that ED had done “nothing wrong,” the bench intervened to say ED had been overreaching its powers recently.
“We are saying this again. Your ED has been crossing all limits, Mr Raju,” the Court said.
Representing TASMAC and its employees, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi argued that the agency had overstepped its mandate by cloning mobile phones and seizing personal devices without due process.
“There is something called privacy,” Rohatgi said, while Sibal urged the court to ensure that no data extracted from the devices be used.
Earlier last month, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain Tamil Nadu government’s plea to transfer the case against ED’s raid on TASMAC and its subsequent search and seizure operations from the Madras high court. The high court, in turn, had reprimanded
the state for “insulting” the judiciary and accused it of “forum shopping.”
