The Supreme Court has strongly criticized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for going too far in their recent raids on state-run liquor shops in Tamil Nadu. These raids happened in March and again earlier this month. The court told the ED to pause their actions for now.
A group of judges, led by Chief Justice BR Gavai, said, “You can file cases against individuals, but not against entire companies. The ED is crossing all limits!” The court also asked the ED to wait until after the court’s vacation before continuing.
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The court’s criticism came after senior lawyer Kapil Sibal told them that the ED had seized and copied data from many mobile phones during the raids on March 14 and May 16.
In March, the ED said they found many irregularities in how TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited) runs the liquor business in the state. TASMAC has a monopoly on liquor sales in Tamil Nadu. The ED also claimed to have found unaccounted cash worth Rs 1,000 crore.
The ED said they found suspicious information related to how licenses and orders were given out, suggesting favoritism toward certain distilleries. They also said TASMAC officials were involved in charging extra money (Rs 10 to Rs 30 per bottle) illegally.
The raids happened again last week, with searches at ten places under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED said they found data showing cheating in how contracts were awarded.
In response, Tamil Nadu’s Excise Minister S Muthusamy accused the ED of targeting state officials unfairly and said this was a political attack. He claimed the ED had no proof of the irregularities and said the state government fully supports its officials.
This case is happening just as the main political parties in Tamil Nadu—the ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK, along with BJP—are preparing for next year’s state elections.
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The BJP’s former state chief, K Annamalai, blamed Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji for being the “main person” behind the corruption, saying it involves over Rs 1,000 crore. Senthil Balaji denied the charges and said the ED has no proof.
He explained that TASMAC’s purchasing system is transparent and based on average purchases over recent months and years. He said no discounts or favors are given to anyone.
