Illegal sand mining: Don’t harass Tamil Nadu district collectors, SC tells ED

The court had in the previous hearing asked the collectors to appear before the agency in response to the summons.

Monday, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for TN told the bench that they had accordingly appeared. He added, “they made them arrive at 8 in the morning and sit till 6”.

Taking note, Justice Trivedi told ED counsel Advocate Zoheb Hossain, “you cannot do that. Do not detain them unnecessarily. They have to tend to their districts”.

Justice Mithal added, “do not harass them unnecessarily”.

Hossain said though they had appeared, they had not shared all the records sought for. Sibal disagreed and said all documents sought for in the summons had been shared with the agency.

Hossain submitted that the collectors had sought more time to produce the relevant records. He said he will file an affidavit bringing the facts on record.

Agreeing, the bench adjourned the hearing till after the summer recess.

ED had summoned the Collectors of Vellore, Trichy, Karur, Thanjavur and Ariyalur in 2023 to answer queries on the scam but the TN government moved the HC against this. The HC stayed the summons following which the agency approached the SC..