Madras HC dismisses collectors’ pleas against ED summons in illegal sand mining case
Advocate General (AG) PS Raman submitted that the district collectors appeared before the ED along with FIR documents asked by the agency in compliance with the Supreme Court's order
Madras High Court (File)
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court dismissed the batch of petitions moved by various district collectors against the summons issued by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in connection with illegal sand mining allegations, as the state government withdrew the case.
Dismissing the batch of petitions, a division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice M Jothiraman said, in respect of economic offences, the union and state governments are expected to work in tandem, in all circumstances, in the public interest and consonance with constitutional philosophy and ethos.
Advocate General (AG) PS Raman submitted that the district collectors appeared before the ED along with FIR documents asked by the agency in compliance with the Supreme Court's order. The collectors extended their full cooperation for the effective investigation and will continue the same in the future, said the AG.
As the matter became infructuous the State didn't want to proceed with the case further and submitted the written instructions seeking to withdraw the petitions.
Also Read: Illegal sand mining: SC asks states including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh to give data
The bench dismissed the petitions as the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ARL Sundaresan appearing for the ED, didn’t object to the withdrawal plea.
On September 12 last year, the ED conducted surprise inspections at various sand quarry sites in the State and also investigated engineers of the Water Resources Department (WRD) in connection to the procedure and sale of illegally mined sand.
After the surprise inspection, the ED issued summons to 10 district collectors including Karur, Tiruchy, Thanjavur, Ariyalur, and Vellore, to appear with the FIR registered in illegal sand mining cases and a list of all sand mining locations and GPS coordinates.
Aggrieved by the summons, the Public and Rehabilitation Department secretary, Water Resources Department secretary, and district collectors moved the high court.
On November 11, 2023, the High Court issued an interim stay to the summons issued against the district collectors, which was later stayed by the Supreme Court.
On April 2, the apex court directed the collectors to appear before the ED as they are bound to respond to the summons with the particulars asked by the agency.