Madras High Court stays ED summons to district collectors in sand mining case

The Madras High Court has stayed the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate to the district collectors in the state in the sand mining cases. The court has, however, allowed the investigation to continue.

The division bench of Justice SS Sundar and Justice Sunder Mohan passed the interim orders in a batch of pleas challenging the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate to District Collectors in Tamil Nadu in an alleged sand mining money laundering case. The court granted three weeks' time to the directorate to respond to the case.

Appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, senior advocate Dushyant Dave had argued on Monday, 27 November that the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act was a code in itself, and the Central authority did not have any investigative powers. Dave also pointed out that ED did not have unbridled power and the power to issue summons was limited to scheduled offences under the PMLA.

The Tamil Nadu government had moved the Madras High Court on Monday, 27 November, challenging the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to district collectors in the state in a money laundering case that is allegedly linked to illegal sand mining.

In its plea, the Tamil Nadu government contended that the ED's probe was politically motivated, and that the Central agency was seeking to conduct a roving inquiry through its summons.

Senior advocate, Dushyant Dave, who appeared for the state government, questioned why the ED was not taking similar action in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states, where there were a large number of reported illegal mining cases.

“If they are concerned, then why has there been no action in BJP-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, which have hundreds illegal mining cases?” Dave asked. He asserted that he would ask the Tamil Nadu government to withdraw its petitions if the ED took similar action in other states.

Dave submitted that the predicate offence was against local miners and that the state government alone had the power to act in the matter. The senior lawyer added that if the Court did not intervene to halt the ED's summons, governance in the state would become impossible.

Meanwhile, Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan appeared for the ED and opposed the state government's plea. He said that several FIRs have been registered in different districts in relation to illegal mining, which also involved scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).