Today, On 27th August, The Supreme Court dismissed the Enforcement Directorate’s petitions challenging the stay of summonses issued to Tamil Nadu district collectors in an illegal sand mining case. The apex court’s decision brings an end to the ED’s attempts to overturn the lower court’s stay on the summonses.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today disposed of petitions filed by the Enforcement of Directorate(ED) that challenged a stay order issued by the Madras High Court regarding summonses to various District Collectors in Tamil Nadu in connection with an illegal sand mining case.
The Bench, comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, stated,
“By an order dated April 2, 2024, this Court directed the Collectors to appear before the ED on April 25, 2024. Accordingly, the concerned District Collectors were present and submitted documents. However, some of the required documents have still not been produced. Consequently, the matter was adjourned multiple times to monitor the status of document submission. On August 6, 2024, Learned Senior Counsel Mr. Kapil Sibal, representing the Respondents, assured that the documents would be provided. While the documents have been submitted, the Petitioner reported difficulty in downloading 36 documents. A list has been handed over to the Petitioner, and the Respondents’ Senior Counsel has agreed to make the documents available within a week. Therefore, no further orders are necessary, and the petitions are disposed of. The office report also indicates that the Respondents have filed review petitions, which are currently pending. These review petitions are also disposed of.”
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Additional Advocate General Amit Anand Tiwari, representing the State of Tamil Nadu, informed the court that there are approximately 2,300 FIRs, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) currently unable to download 36 of them.
They assured the court that the respondents would provide all the documents in their possession, including those available on the website but facing download issues. Earlier, the Supreme Court had instructed the ED not to harass or detain the District Collectors without cause.
The court also admonished several District Collectors from Tamil Nadu for failing to appear before the ED as previously ordered by the Supreme Court.
On February 27, 2024, the Supreme Court lifted the Madras High Court’s interim stay on the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) summonses, stating that the Writ Petition filed by the State of Tamil Nadu challenging the summonses appeared to be prima facie misconceived.
Read Also: Supreme Court Upholds ED’s Authority to Summon Tamil Nadu District Collectors
In its Special Leave Petition against the High Court’s stay order, the Supreme Court instructed the District Collectors to comply with and respond to the ED’s summonses.
The Madras High Court initially granted an interim stay on the ED’s summonses to Tamil Nadu’s District Collectors in November 2023, prompting the ED to seek relief from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court then provided the District Collectors with a final opportunity to appear before the ED in response to the summonses issued on April 26, 2024.