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Legal Action Against TASMAC

Chennai: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been submitted to the Madras High Court, requesting the transfer of more than 40 FIRs concerning alleged misconduct within the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

On Wednesday, a bench led by Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan issued a notice to the DVAC, CBI, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), with a response expected by next week.

The ED has been conducting a money laundering investigation linked to FIRs filed between 2017 and 2024.

This PIL was initiated by advocate K. Venkatachalapathy from Tirunelveli, represented by attorney V.R. Shanmuganathan.

The petitioner claims that the FIRs involve issues such as inflated liquor prices, irregularities in the tendering process, and other misconduct by TASMAC employees and associates, amounting to a total scam of approximately Rs 1,000 crore.

According to the petition, the ED filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and executed a search and seizure operation at TASMAC’s headquarters in Chennai from March 6 to 8, 2025.

However, the state government contested the ED's actions through a writ petition, which was subsequently dismissed by the court.

During the proceedings, the petitioners urged the DVAC to provide a status update on the ongoing investigation.

In response, Advocate General P.S. Raman and Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran requested three weeks to prepare a counter-affidavit.

The bench instructed the State to submit its arguments by May 21 and postponed the case.

The petitioner expressed concerns regarding the State’s reluctance to allow central agency oversight, highlighting reports of some FIRs being closed. He argued that a fair and transparent investigation could only be guaranteed by transferring the case to the CBI. He also mentioned that representations had been made to the Centre and the CBI on May 1 and again on May 8.