‘Let it be decided there’: Supreme Court on Tamil Nadu’s plea to transfer TASMAC-ED case from Madras High Court

The petitioners said the matter also involved questions of seizure of electronic devices, and, therefore, the Supreme Court must deal with it in the light of the privacy judgment. However, CJI Khanna pointed out that the issue pending before it was that of search and seizure of electronic gadgets of journalists.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta countered the submissions and said that the issue of the seizure of devices was not raised before the HC. Mehta contended that it was an attempt at forum shopping.

The bench, also comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar, said the question of search and seizure had been settled by the top court in a 1956 judgment, and, therefore, the Madras HC should continue to hear the matter. “You can come here later,” said CJI Khanna.

Following the remarks, the Tamil Nadu Government and TASMAC chose to withdraw their pleas.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted the searches at TASMAC offices in March amid a large-scale investigation into alleged corruption and financial irregularities within the body, which oversees liquor sales in Tamil Nadu. ED officials raided 20 locations, including the corporation’s headquarters in Chennai, between March 6 and March 8.

In a report later, ED said its probe came after cases were registered under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act. The Central agency also said that more than Rs 1,000 crore of unaccounted money may have circulated through TASMAC due to irregularities.