Supreme Court Halts ED's TASMAC Probe Over Corruption Allegations

The Supreme Court has stayed the Enforcement Directorate's money laundering investigation into Tamil Nadu's TASMAC over alleged corruption in liquor licence grants. The court criticized the ED for overstepping federal governance boundaries. The case involves over Rs 1,000 crore and counters a Madras High Court decision allowing the probe.

The Supreme Court on Thursday criticized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly exceeding its authority in a money laundering investigation involving Tamil Nadu's TASMAC, a state-run liquor retailer. The probe concerns suspected corruption in the allocation of wine shop licences.

A bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai condemned the ED for purportedly violating federal governance principles, pausing the agency's investigation against TASMAC. This decision follows petitions by the Tamil Nadu government and TASMAC challenging an April 23 Madras High Court ruling permitting the ED's actions involving over Rs 1,000 crore.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju defended the ED's move, stating that the agency did not exceed its limits in this case. Meanwhile, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Amit nand Tiwari pointed out that the Tamil Nadu government itself previously registered over 40 FIRs related to liquor licence allocations since 2014.

(With inputs from agencies.)