The Madras High Court judges hearing the Tamil Nadu government’s case against the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) probe into the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) recused themselves on March 25. Justices MS Ramesh and N Senthilkumar stepped away from the case just days after issuing a temporary order restraining the ED’s investigation on March 20.
According to Bar and Bench, the judges stated, “That TASMAC matter, we are recusing ourselves. We have some reasons. Actually, we wanted it tomorrow, but we already signed the order (posting it today). Thereafter, we found we cannot take this matter. It will go before an alternate Bench.”
During the March 20 hearing, the judges had questioned whether the ED had the authority to detain an entire office based on evidence against only certain individuals. “You might have some inputs against a person or a group of persons. But can you withhold an entire office and all the staff under your control? Is it not an alarming situation?” they had asked.
The judges had instructed the ED to file a counter affidavit in response to TASMAC’s petition and had adjourned the case until March 25, temporarily restraining further investigations by the central agency.
The ED’s search reportedly began on the morning of March 6 and continued until 1 am on March 8. On March 14, the agency claimed that it had uncovered large-scale financial irregularities in TASMAC amounting to Rs 1,000 crore. TNM previously reported in its Powertrip newsletter that the ED’s raids were meticulously planned across 26 locations, causing ripples within the state government.
Although the ED did not seize cash during the raids, officials reportedly discovered evidence of unaccounted financial transactions, with several instances of deleted data. TASMAC sources told TNM that the probe is focusing on potential discrepancies in liquor production at distilleries, procurement by TASMAC, and retail sales. The ED suspects that excess liquor is being manufactured and sold in the black market.
The Tamil Nadu government has accused the ED of conducting a “roving inquiry” without reasonable cause. It has also alleged that the ED detained key TASMAC officials, including the Managing Director, the General Manager (Administration and Wholesale)—a woman officer—and the General Manager (Retail and Vending) for 60 hours, preventing them from communicating with their families.
Watch: ED Raids: ‘தமிழகத்தல் Parallel TASMAC நடக்கிறது’