The Madras High Court has sharply questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over its authority to seal properties linked to two individuals in the ongoing ₹1,000 crore TASMAC liquor licence scam. The court’s division bench of Justices M. S. Ramesh and V. Lakshminarayanan queried, “Under what provision did the ED seal residences and offices?” while hearing petitions by film producer Akash Bhaskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran.
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In court, Bhaskaran’s counsel emphasized that the producer had no ties to the TASMAC case beyond being a film financier. Nevertheless, his devices, laptop, mobile phone, and iPad, were seized during the May 16 raid. Ravindran’s team highlighted that both his home and office premises were sealed without any documented connection to the liquor licence fraud, stressing it was premature to implicate them.
The ED responded that its action was strictly procedural: the properties were locked during the raid, notices were pasted, and the individuals were declared absconding after failing to appear for over a month. The bench has scheduled the ED to provide a detailed explanation by June 17.
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The hearing underscores broader concerns over executive reach under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court questioned whether the ED followed due process, especially in sealing personal properties without formal court orders or providing them adequate notice.
This legal tension follows a Supreme Court ruling in May, which stayed the ED’s broader probe into TASMAC, citing federal overreach and a lack of statutory ground for enforcement overreach. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption has moved to ensure that FIRs related to TASMAC remain active pending further judicial scrutiny.
About the Author – Anirudh Mittal is a B.Sc. LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, with a keen interest in corporate law and tech-driven legal change.