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The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday apprised the Madras High Court that it was not trying to protect the state-run liquor retailer Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), in the alleged Rs 1,000 crore liquor scam.
Advocate General PS Raman assured the Vacation Bench of Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice V Lakshminarayan that the state would not circumvent the action taken by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against TASMAC under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by dropping the predicate offence.
In Pavana Dibbur vs ED, the Supreme Court had ruled that if the predicate offence was dropped, proceedings under PMLA would not stand.
The Counsel sought adjournment in a PIL seeking CBI probe into the alleged TASMAC scam.
The High Court refused to adjourn the matter, saying that the state had been identifying itself with TASMAC. If the state closed all predicate offences, this writ petition would become infructuous, it noted.
Claiming that a wrong impression was being given, the AG said the state was only trying to protect Federalism.
When the Bench asked whether the state would give an undertaking not to close the FIRs till the disposal of the current plea, the AG said he would ask the Home Secretary not to close the FIRs in connection with the alleged scam.
The High Court recorded the AG’s submission and adjourned the matter for three weeks.
It also directed the state government to file a status report regarding the investigation by the next date of hearing.
A petition was filed by Advocate Venkatachapathy, seeking transfer of the FIRs filed against TASMAC and its officials to the CBI. The PIL sought directions to CBI to take cognisance of the large-scale corruption of Rs 1000 crore by TASMAC and its officers.
Venkatachapathy apprised the Bench that presently, multiple FIRs have been registered by the Tamil Nadu Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption regarding TASMAC’s excess collection of money above the actual MRP.
Pointing to the petitions filed by TASMAC and the Tamil Nadu government challenging the ED search at TASMAC headquarters, the petitioner alleged that both TASMAC and the state were attempting to hinder the investigation.
He submitted that the ugly manner in which the trial was being conducted by the investigation agencies undermined the credibility and independence of the entire judicial and legal system in the state. Since the accused included state Ministers, the witnesses would be hesitant to come forward, noted the PIL.
It said the knee-jerk reaction of the prosecuting agency destroyed the public confidence in the administration of justice, resulting in anarchy and breakdown of the rule of law.
The petitioner claimed that a fair trial would not be possible and requested the Bench to transfer the investigation to CBI.
This article first appeared on India Legal
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