Madras HC directs ED joint director to appear in contempt case over TASMAC liquor scam
The contempt plea was moved over the ED's issuance of summons in relation to the alleged Rs 1,000 crore TASMAC liquor scam, despite an interim stay earlier granted by the HC.
'There is a limit to everything. The officer was present in the court when the stay order was passed. Despite that, he issued the summons,' a division bench of Justice M S Ramesh and Justice V Lakshminarayanan said.
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Responding to the submission of the counsel for ED, that the issuance of the summons was not intentional but just an oversight of the order passed by the court, the judges said, 'Let him appear so that he might not repeat this oversight again.'
We judge asked you (ED) to file a counter in the contempt petition. You did not file even after repeated adjournments, we imposed Rs 30,000 cost. You refused to pay the cost and pleaded that you are moving an appeal against the order imposing cost, the judges observed.
Senior advocate Vijay Narayan representing the petitioner pointed out that the ED even filed a petition seeking waiver of the cost imposed before this court.
In the morning, additional solicitor general S V Raju appeared through video conferencing and sought time to file an appeal against the order imposing cost. Let the officer appear on September 17. You (ED) can file an appeal against this order also, if you want, the court said and adjourned the hearing to September 17.
The issue pertains to an ongoing investigation into the alleged Rs 1,000 crore liquor scam involving TASMAC and its officials.
In connection with the case, the ED conducted searches at properties linked to film producer Akash Bhaskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran, during which documents were seized from Bhaskaran.
Subsequently, pointing out that the ED lacks the power to lock and seal premises, the HC directed the ED to return the seized documents to Akash Bhaskaran and restrained the agency from taking any further action based on those documents.
However, since the ED summoned Akash Bhaskaran despite the restraining order, the bench on July 23 censured the ED for violating the court orders. The court also granted liberty to the film producer to move a contempt of court petition against the ED if necessary. Subsequently, the producer filed a contempt petition against the ED.
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