ED action on state-run liquor retailer: Tamil Nadu, TASMAC withdraw transfer pleas in Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government and its marketing corporation TASMAC on Tuesday withdrew from the Supreme Court the pleas to transfer from the Madras High Court to another high court their petitions against the recent ED action on the state-run liquor retailer.

During a brief hearing, a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar observed the issues should be decided by the Madras High Court.

The bench said a 1956 apex court judgement had settled the legal issue on search and seizure.

“Let it be decided by the Madras High Court. We are here…You can come here later. The matter pertaining to the seizure of electronic gadgets of journalists is different. The threshold of privacy is higher there. Let the Madras HC deal with it,” the CJI said.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the state government, then decided to withdraw the pleas.

The bench allowed the state and the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) to withdraw the pleas, dismissing them as withdrawn.

On April 4, the top court agreed to consider listing the pleas of the state government and the TASMAC seeking the transfer.

On March 25, a division bench of Justices M S Ramesh and N Senthilkumar of the Madras High Court recused itself from hearing the petitions filed by the TASMAC against the recent raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the state-run liquor retailer.

The Tamil Nadu government and the TASMAC filed the pleas under Article 139A of the Constitution.

The provision empowers the top court to transfer a case from one high court to another.

Earlier, when the pleas of TASMAC and the state government came up for hearing before the high court on March 25, the bench said it was recusing itself from hearing the case, but did not specify any reasons.

The high court on March 20 directed the ED, which conducted raids on the premises of the TASMAC earlier last month, to produce copies of the FIR and enforcement case information report along with any other material which it relied upon against TASMAC.

Orally directing the ED not to proceed further pursuant to its raids at the TASMAC headquarters in the city, the high court had posted on March 25, the hearing of the petitions filed by the liquor retailer and the state government against the ED searches.

According to probe agency, it had found serious financial fraud involving distillery companies and bottling entities through generation of unaccounted cash and illicit payments.

In its petition, TASMAC sought a direction to the ED not to harass its employees under the guise of investigation.

It also sought a declaration that the ED's action of investigating the offence within the territorial limits of the state was violative of federalism.