SC Pulls Up ED For Harassing Tamil Nadu Collectors In Illegal Sand Mining Case

The Supreme Court asked the Enforcement Directorate not to "unnecessarily harass" the district collectors summoned in the illegal sand mining case by making them wait for long hours.

"Do not harass them unnecessarily," Supreme Court Tells ED

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The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) not to "unnecessarily harass" the district collectors summoned in the illegal sand mining case by making them wait for long hours outside its office.

A bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal warned the ED after the Tamil Nadu government raised a complaint that the collectors summoned by the ED were being made to wait from 8AM to 6PM.

 Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for state of Tamil Nadu told the apex court that the central probe agency made the collectors arrive at 8 in the morning and sit till 6 in evening.

On this, the court issued a warning notice to ED and said that the agency cannot do that.

"Do not keep them waiting, they have to tend to their districts," Justice Trivedi said.

Justice Mithal also added, "Do not harass them unnecessarily."

The ED on the other hand informed the apex court that the collectors have not submitted the required documents and asked for time to file response. The bench posted the matter after court vacations.

The top court was hearing ED's plea the Madras High Court's order that stayed summons to five collectors in Tamil Nadu and observed that prima facie, ED had no authority to summon collectors.

In February, the top court lifted high court's stay on summons and expressed dismay over Tamil Nadu government moving high court against ED summons.

In April, the apex court expressed great disapporval over collectors skipping ED summons despite its directions.

In its appeal against the high court stay order, the ED said that the investigations are underway to unearth the nexus between the illegal miners, officials and local mafia in the TamilNadu.

The ED also placed an expert study which stated that the value of excess sand mining in Tamil Nadu came to Rs 4,730 crore against the recorded revenue of Rs 36.45 crore earned by Tamil Nadu government.