Supreme Court questions whether ED is overstepping in Tamil Nadu liquor-scam probe
The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over its ongoing investigation into an alleged liquor scam involving the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC), asking if the central agency was encroaching upon the state’s powers to probe the case.
This marks the second time in six months that the top court has pulled up the central agency for overstepping its mandate, particularly over two rounds of raids in March during which the ED claimed to have recovered “incriminating material.”
“What happens to the federal structure? Are you not taking away the state government’s right to investigate?” a bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai asked the ED, pressing the agency to justify its repeated raids and seizures.
As the hearing progressed, Chief Justice Gavai appeared to express concern over the frequency of ED’s interventions in state-related cases, remarking, “In the last six years, I have seen many cases investigated by the ED… but I will refrain from saying more, or it will be reported again.”
Appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi questioned the ED’s authority to raid a state-run entity like TASMAC when state police had already registered cases and begun investigations.
“We have already filed FIRs. Why is the ED interfering when the state is investigating?” Sibal asked, while Rohatgi pointed to alleged procedural violations during the raids, including the seizure of employees’ phones and the detention of women staff.
In response, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the ED, defended the probe, claiming widespread irregularities.
“There are 47 police cases. Large-scale corruption continues. We are only investigating the money-laundering aspect — these are predicate offences,” Raju told the court.