Supreme Court Rebukes Tamil Nadu Collectors For Defying ED Summons In Sand Mining Probe, Asks To Appear On 25 April

The Supreme Court has criticised five district collectors of Tamil Nadu for failing to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering probe related to alleged illegal sand mining.

The court has now directed the officials to personally appear before the ED on 25 April, as per a report by The Indian Express.

Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal expressed displeasure, stating, “In our opinion, such a cavalier approach will land them in a difficult situation. When the court had passed the order directing them to appear in response to the summons issued by the ED, they were expected to obey the same order and remain present before the ED."

Senior advocates representing the Tamil Nadu government explained that the officials were preoccupied with maintaining public order and implementing social security schemes, especially given the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu on 19 April.

The bench noted that the officials should have appeared before the probe agency and provided reasons for their non-appearance. It granted them one final opportunity to appear before the ED.

Previously, on 27 February, the Supreme Court had directed the five district collectors to appear before the ED.

The Madras High Court had earlier stayed the ED's summons to the district collectors, prompting the ED to appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that this non-cooperation hindered its probe.

The Supreme Court had criticised the Tamil Nadu government's plea as unusual and potentially obstructive to the ED's investigation into money laundering allegations related to the FIRs.