Did Not Harass TASMAC Officers During Search, Allegations A Mere Afterthought: ED Tells Madras High Court

While making submissions in support of the search conducted by the Enforcement Directorate in the TASMAC headquarters, the ED, on Thursday, contended that the allegation of harassment raised by TASMAC was a mere afterthought for creating grounds in the present case. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju was making submissions before the bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice K Rajasekar in the plea filed by the State and TASMAC against the ED search. After hearing the ASG, the bench said that it would reserve orders but allowed Senior Advocate Vikas Singh (appearing for TASMAC) to make arguments on Monday in its rejoinder. “We're reserving judgment. We can't let it prolong. We'll give you time till Monday to file written submissions. The problem is, many other people are going on and filing and disturbing. We're reserving but we'll permit you if you want to say anything more,” the bench said. Making submissions for the ED, Raju said that the TASMAC had raised the allegations of harassment for the first time in the petitions. Raju said that the Panchnama, which was accepted and signed by officials of TASMAC, clearly states that the officers were allowed to go home at night and that the search proceedings were paused during the night. “This Panchnama has been signed by ED officials. They have not made any endorsement that officers were not allowed to go home. They've accepted this Panchnama. They're even relying on these panchnama. This contention of harassment is raised as an aftrethought only for creating a case in the present matter,” Raju argued. Raju also argued that the Panchnama was signed not by ordinary employees of TASMAC but by higher-ranking officials, and if there was any compulsion as claimed by TASMAC in its petition, the officers would have raised the issue at that stage itself instead of keeping quiet. “Officers are high-ranking officers. They can't be forced. You think an officer will keep quiet if he's forced? An officer in the rank of MD would keep quiet? Secondly, the sign of the independent witnesses only shows that the search was peaceful,” Raju argued. Raju also argued that the petitioners had tried to bypass the statutory framework by approaching the court directly instead of going to the Adjudicating authority. He said that it was for the adjudicating authority to decide if the information of the search was immediately forwarded to the adjudicating authority, within a reasonable time under Section 17(2) of PMLA. He added that in the present case, the delay was cogent and there was a reasonable explanation. During the hearing, the court also perused the 'reasons to believe' that were submitted by the ED in a sealed cover. After perusing the reasons to believe, the court returned the same to the special prosecutor. Case Title: Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Ltd TASMAC v. Directorate of Enforcement Case No: WP 10348/ 2025

Did Not Harass TASMAC Officers During Search, Allegations A Mere Afterthought: ED Tells Madras High Court

Upasana Sajeev

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