Tamil Nadu Government Moves Madras High Court Against ED'S TASMAC Search, Says ED Conducting Roving Enquiry

The Tamil Nadu government and the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) approached the Madras High Court against the searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate at TASMAC's headquarters and other outlets between March 6 and March 8. The petitions have been listed before the bench of Justice MS Ramesh and Justice N Senthilkumar. The State is seeking for a declaration that ED's power to investigate into an offence of money laundering arising out of and within the territorial limits of the State, without state consent is violative of the basic structure of federalism and separation of powers. The state has also sought for an interim order to direct the ED to produce a copy of the ECIR pertaining to the searches. In its plea filed through the Additional Chief Secretary, the State argued that the ED was conducting a roving enquiry without having materials. It was submitted that even after conducting searches for prolonged hours, ED was unable to recover any “proceeds of crime” under the PMLA and thus there was no material to show that TASMAC was involved in the commission of offences under the PMLA. It was submitted that the search itself was without following due procedure as the authorities were not given a copy of the search warrant but were forced to acknowledge of having read and understood the content of the warrant/memo. It was submitted that the search was conducted in blatant disregard to the fundamental rights of life liberty and dignity of the TASMAC employees. The state also argued that the ED subjected several employees of the TASMAC, including women employees to unlawful detention for nearly 60 hours and acted in a wholly arbitrary and high-handed manner. It was submitted that the mobile phones of the employees were also forcibly seized rendering them unable to communicate with their families who were left anguished about the wellbeing of employees. It was pointed out that many of the women employees were allowed to leave late in the night without any access to transportation creating an environment of fear, insecurity and extreme distress. The state submitted that ED's coercive tactics demonstrated a shocking disregard for the rule of law and the fundamental rights of the employees. It was submitted that ED's actions were arbitrary, without any jurisdiction and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The state argued that Ed had been misusing its powers and had been engaging in a pick-and-choose approach in violation to the principles of federalism. The state contended that ED's action amounted to usurping the power of the State in contravention to the constitutional limits prescribed.Case Title: Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Ltd TASMAC v. Directorate of Enforcement Case No: WP 10348/ 2025

Tamil Nadu Government Moves Madras High Court Against ED'S TASMAC Search, Says ED Conducting Roving Enquiry

Upasana Sajeev

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