Supreme Court stays ED probe into Tamil Nadu’s TASMAC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering probe into Tamil Nadu’s state-run liquor corporation, TASMAC, expressing strong disapproval of what it described as overreach by the central agency. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai and Justice A.G. Masih criticised the ED for “crossing all limits” and violating the federal structure of the country.

“Your ED is crossing all limits. You are totally violating the federal structure. How can there be an offence against the corporation?” CJI Gavai questioned Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, who appeared for the ED.

The apex court was hearing petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu government and TASMAC challenging the Madras High Court’s April 23 order, which dismissed their plea against ED’s raids on TASMAC headquarters and allowed the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to proceed. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, informed the court that the state had already taken action on allegations of corruption.

“The state has filed 41 FIRs between 2014 and 2021 against individuals accused of taking bribes for allotment of liquor outlets. These were criminal acts by individuals, not by the corporation itself,” Sibal argued.

He further alleged that despite this, the ED entered the scene in 2025, raided the TASMAC head office, and seized phones and other electronic devices from officials.

“Everything was cloned. This is a clear overreach,” he said.

Sibal urged the court to prohibit the ED from using any data extracted from these devices, calling it a serious violation of privacy.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing TASMAC, echoed these concerns and accused the ED of breaching the privacy of officials by cloning their phones without due cause.

In response, ASG Raju claimed the matter involved a scam worth Rs 1,000 crore, alleging that the ED was probing large-scale corruption in which state officials and politicians were complicit.

He contended that distillery companies had allegedly siphoned off large amounts of unaccounted cash and bribed their way into securing lucrative supply contracts from TASMAC.

Furthermore, TASMAC retail outlets were allegedly selling liquor at prices higher than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP), he said. (IANS)

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