The court has asked five district judges of Tamil Nadu to appear before it.
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Tuesday strongly reprimanded five district collectors of Tamil Nadu for not appearing before the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the ongoing money laundering probe related to alleged illegal sand mining despite a court order.
It directed officials to appear in person at the education board on April 25, saying failure to do so would have serious consequences.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal said the officers adopted a “cavalier attitude” and the action showed disrespect for the court, the law and constitution.
“We feel that this careless approach will land them in trouble. When the court passes an order directing them to appear before the summons issued by the ED, they should comply with the same order and remain present before.” “This shows disrespect on the part of the officials. Courts or laws, let alone respect for the Constitution of India. This approach is strongly frowned upon,” the bench said.
Kapil Sibal and Amit Anand Tiwari, senior advocates for the Tamil Nadu government, said officials were busy maintaining public order and implementing social security schemes.
They said the Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held on April 19 and officials have been taking care of poll-related work.
The bench said the officials should appear before the investigating agency and explain their reasons.
Officials will reportedly be given a last chance to appear before police in connection with a money laundering probe.
Mr. Sibal said a review petition has been filed against the Supreme Court’s February 27 order, according to which the court asked the officials to appear before the probe agency.
“What’s the point of sending these officials to the investigating agency when they say they don’t have the necessary data required by the education ministry?” the senior lawyer said, adding that even the officer’s authorized agent could be sent.
He added that the education ministry did not specify whether the officials were called as witnesses or defendants.
The bench asked Mr Sibal to read Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and said: “ED can summon anyone because it says ‘any person’.”
Section 50(2) of the PMLA provides: “The Director, Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy Director or Assistant Director shall have the power to summon any person whose presence he considers necessary for the purpose of giving evidence or producing any record during the proceedings. According to Any investigation or proceedings under this Act.”
Justice Trivedi said, “You were given enough time to appear before the court. The order (February 27) was passed a month ago. However, they chose not to appear before the court.”
On February 27, the Supreme Court directed five district collectors to appear before them in connection with the ongoing money laundering probe.
The Madras High Court on November 28 last year had stayed the summons issued by the central investigation agency to the district collectors of Vellore, Tiruchirappalli, Karur, Thanjavur and Ariyalur. Be present and participate in ongoing investigations.
The ED approached the Supreme Court against the High Court order, saying non-cooperation would hamper its investigation.
The Supreme Court stayed the High Court order granting relief to the district collector and said the plea by Tamil Nadu and its officials was “bizarre and unusual” and could stall the ED’s investigation into money laundering related to the FIR.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
wait reply load…
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
