Supreme Court lifts stay on ED summons to 5 Tamil Nadu Collectors implicated in sand mining scam

The Supreme Court on Tuesday lifted a stay imposed by the Madras High Court on the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against five district collectors in Tamil Nadu in connection with a probe into an alleged sand mining scam [Directorate of Enforcement vs State of Tamil Nadu and ors]..A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal expressed that it was strange and unusual for the Tamil Nadu government to have moved the High Court challenging the ED summons in the first place.Pertinently, the bench also held that prima facie, under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), accused persons must respect and respond to summons issued by the ED, and appear as and when called to produce evidence in accordance with the law.."This is a very strange and unusual writ petition filed by the State of Tamil Nadu (before the Madras High Court) along with Additional Chief Secretary, District Collectors ... ED can summon any person it seems necessary to produce evidence or give attendance during proceedings under the Act (PMLA) ... The ones issued summons are required to respect and respond to the said summons by the ED," the Court said..The bench proceeded to overturn the stay earlier imposed by the Madras High Court. The district collectors summoned by the ED were directed to appear before the central agency. "The writ petition (before the Madras High Court) is thoroughly misconceived. Accordingly the execution of the impugned order is stayed and thus district collector shall appear before the ED on the next date as indicated by the ED," the top court ordered. The matter will be taken up next after four weeks..The Court was hearing an appeal filed by the ED against the Madras High Court's decision to stay its summons to the five district collectors in Tamil Nadu.In its interim order, the Madras High Court had opined that the ED's summons appeared to be part of a "fishing expedition", and that, prima facie, the ED had no jurisdiction to issue the summons to any of the State's district collectors.However, the High Court clarified that it has not imposed any stay on ED’s ongoing investigation in the case.The High Court had also dismissed objections raised by the ED on whether the Tamil Nadu government had the locus standi to file a petition to challenge the ED's issue of summons.This order was then challenged before the Supreme Court by the ED..While hearing this appeal, the Supreme Court had last week questioned how the State of Tamil Nadu could have filed a writ petition before the Madras High Court. The bench had orally opined that the summons issued to the district collectors could only have been challenged by the collectors themselves, in their personal capacity. .The Court today set aside the High Court's interim order and the stay imposed on the ED summons, thereby also rendering the writ petitions before the High Court infructuous. .Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Amit Anand Tiwari appeared for the Tamil Nadu government.Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the district collectors.Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appeared for the ED..[Read order].[Read live coverage]