An assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has tendered an unconditional apology before the Madras High Court. This comes in response to contempt proceedings initiated against him for issuing summons in a case where the court had explicitly stayed the probe.
Court Summons Senior ED Officials
The development occurred on Monday before a division bench comprising Justice MS Ramesh and Justice V Lakshminarayanan. The bench also took a stern view of the non-appearance of other senior ED officials in the case. Consequently, it summoned ED's adjudicating authority chairperson Pradeep Kumar Upadhyay and administrative officer Nasreen Siddique to appear in person on January 19. This order was passed after their counsel informed the court that they had not received the notices related to the contempt petition.
Background of the TASMAC Investigation
The contempt case stems from a larger investigation into suspected irregularities in the procurement and sale of liquor by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC). In May, the ED conducted searches at the offices and residences of film producer Akash Baskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran as part of this probe, subsequently sealing their premises.
Challenging the agency's actions, the duo approached the Madras High Court. In June, the court granted an interim stay, halting the ED from proceeding further in the case. Despite this judicial order, the agency, through assistant director Vikas Kumar, issued summons to Akash Baskaran for interrogation regarding evidence seized from his properties.
Contempt Proceedings and Apology
Aggrieved by this action, Baskaran filed a contempt petition alleging that the ED had willfully violated the court's stay order. Notices were then issued to senior ED officials. During a hearing last week, the bench questioned the absence of the officials. While the ED counsel argued that their presence had been dispensed with earlier, the bench clarified that any relaxation was linked to a pending appeal in the Supreme Court. Since the Supreme Court had rejected the ED's appeal, the relaxation was no longer valid, necessitating their personal appearance.
When the case was heard on Monday, ED assistant director Vikas Kumar appeared before the bench and tendered an unconditional apology for the actions that led to the contempt proceedings. The court's acceptance of this apology and the next steps regarding the summoned officials will be closely watched.
