The Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to pause all proceedings related to its recent raids on Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) premises. The court also asked the ED to submit a counter affidavit and adjourned the hearing to March 25.
The directive came after TASMAC filed a writ petition seeking a stay on the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) proceedings and urged the court to prevent ED from “harassing” its employees under the pretext of inquiry.
A division bench comprising Justices MS Ramesh and N Senthilkumar asked the ED to provide details of the FIRs on which its investigation is based. The Tamil Nadu government was also directed to submit CCTV footage of the raids conducted over three days.
The Tamil Nadu BJP has been staging protests against alleged irregularities in TASMAC operations. On Monday, state police detained several BJP leaders, including party president K Annamalai and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, for demonstrating against TASMAC.
Speaking to the media, Annamalai alleged that Tamil Nadu’s law enforcement was acting as an extension of the ruling DMK.
“Some officers have become stooges of the DMK. Instead of wearing a police uniform, they may as well wear DMK attire. Their sole purpose seems to be pleasing the Chief Minister. Many of our leaders were arrested, including women, who were detained beyond 6 PM, which is against the law,” he said.
He further claimed that TASMAC has been a “burning issue” since the DMK government came to power.
“Chief Minister MK Stalin directly intervened in the ED’s investigation into Senthil Balaji. We firmly believe that the real accused in this case is MK Stalin himself. The DMK used alcohol money for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and is now preparing for the 2026 Assembly elections using TASMAC funds,” Annamalai alleged.
Tamilisai Soundararajan also criticized the police, claiming that they detained BJP workers unlawfully.
“They only released us after we agitated and a female party worker fainted. Women were detained beyond the legal time limit. Their aim is to break our confidence, but we will continue to fight against corruption,” she said.
Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji dismissed the BJP’s claims of a TASMAC scam and accused the ED of making baseless allegations.
“ED has alleged a ₹1,000 crore scam without any evidence. A baseless claim was first made by one person, and now ED has repeated it. People know the reality behind such accusations. The government will face ED’s probe legally,” Balaji stated.
He further asserted that TASMAC operations are fully transparent and that the ruling DMK has nothing to hide.
As the legal battle continues, the Madras High Court’s decision to halt ED proceedings is seen as a temporary relief for the Tamil Nadu government, while the political slugfest over TASMAC shows no signs of cooling down.
