CJI B.R. Gavai asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) why the ED had intervened when the state police could have investigated the TASMAC scam. "Isn't this an encroachment on the state's rights?"

The Supreme Court has reprimanded the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the ₹1,000 crore scam involving the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC). Chief Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai (CJI BR Gavai) also stated that he did not want to comment on the ED's investigation, lest it become a topic of discussion on social media.

On Tuesday (October 14, 2025), a bench comprising CJI B.R. Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran was hearing the case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided TASMAC's Chennai headquarters in March in connection with a ₹1,000 crore scam involving alleged liquor bottle price gouging, tender manipulation, and bribery. During the raid, agency officials seized TASMAC computers and other items. The court questioned whether the state police could handle the matter, and the ED's involvement was necessary.

The court reprimanded the ED.

According to a Bar & Bench report, the court asked the ED, "Aren't you interfering with the powers of the police? Can't the state police investigate this scam, and is ED intervention necessary? Who oversees law and order in the state? What impact will this have on the federal structure?" 

CJI B.R. Gavai said, "I have seen the ED's investigations into several cases over the past six years, but I don't want to comment on them, or else it will become a topic of discussion on social media." Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, who appeared for the ED, said that social media rarely speaks in our favor, and that is our complaint.

TASMAC objected to the ED raid.

During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing TASMAC, questioned the ED's action, questioning how a government organization could be raided when the order for the action was given by TASMAC itself. Sibal argued that the raids were conducted at the managing directors' residences, and once an FIR was filed, an ESIR was also filed; the case could be closed in no time.

Kapil Sibal said, "We have to decide what we should do and what we shouldn't, and what the ED is doing. The ED's seizure of computers is shocking." Responding to Kapil Sibal's argument, ASG SV Raju said that large-scale fraud was taking place at TASMAC. He added that 47 FIRs have been filed.

Kapil Sibal stated that most FIRs have been closed. He added that if the ED had such information, it could have shared it with the local police. Responding to ASG Raju's arguments, CJI Gavai questioned whether the ED's action did not infringe on the state's right to investigate a case.