Liquor Scam: Enforcement Directorate searches TASMAC offices, Tamil Nadu govt approaches Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided at least 10 locations, including the residence of state-run liquor retailer Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) Managing Director S Visakan, film producer Akash Baskaran, SNJ Distilleries, and government contractors in connection with the alleged Rs 1,000 crore liquor scam.

It is important to note that the development comes a week after the Madras High Court told the ED to continue with its investigation into the scam under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The court also dismissed a petition by TASMAC and the DMK dispensation seeking to declare the raids as “illegal.” According to the reports, the ED officers recovered printouts of WhatsApp chats near IAS officer Visakan residence, containing details related to TASMAC’s liquor procurement.

According to the officials, the raids are in continuation with the searches by ED at TASMAC headquarters in the first and second week of March. They further added that the probe is now focused on the money generation avenues of the state-run liquor.

Besides Visakan, Akash Baskaran, producer at Dawn Pictures and linked to the DMK’s first family, was also searched by the ED.

Tamil Nadu Government Moves Supreme Court

The Tamil Nadu government has gone to the Supreme Court against the order of the Madras High Court that gave a free hand to the agency in the probe. “The matter will be taken up for hearing in two or three days,” a senior Supreme Court registry official told TNIE.

The state has filed its appeal against the April 23 order of Justices SM Subramaniam and K Rajasekar of the Madras HC, dismissing the petitions filed by the state government and Tasmac against the raids conducted from April 6 to 8 at multiple places, including Tasmac headquarters.

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