In a setback to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Madras Excessive Courtroom has questioned the company’s authority below the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA) to seal premises that have been locked on the time of a search, and reserved orders on a batch of petitions filed by Tamil movie producer Akash Bhaskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran.
The ED had carried out a search and seizure operation on Might 16 at a number of premises linked to Bhaskaran and Ravindran, in reference to the alleged Rs 1,000-crore TASMAC rip-off. The petitioners alleged that the company sealed their workplace and residence illegally, although they weren’t current throughout the raid.
A Division Bench comprising Justices M S Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan expressed concern over the ED’s evolving interpretation of its powers, observing, “Courts typically comment that the PMLA (Prevention of Cash Laundering Act) is an evolving laws. However we discover that it’s really the Directorate of Enforcement officers who’re evolving day-to-day by increasing their powers.”
Throughout the listening to on Tuesday, Extra Solicitor Normal S V Raju, showing for the ED, acknowledged that the company didn’t have the authorized energy to seal a locked premise below Part 17 of the PMLA. “The ED doesn’t have energy to seal. The lordship is true in that side,” Raju stated.
He defined that whereas the regulation permits ED officers to interrupt open locks throughout a search, they selected to not on this case to keep away from escalating the state of affairs.
As an alternative, the company pasted notices exterior the premises, stating that they “shall not be opened” and instructing the occupants to contact the company – an motion the courtroom stated may wrongly suggest that ED had the authority to ban entry. “By saying ED would ‘allow’ them to enter, it presumes ED has energy to ban,” the Bench stated.
The courtroom had earlier requested the ED to supply materials that justified the raids. When the company submitted its proof in a sealed cowl, the Bench identified that the paperwork didn’t align with the submissions made by the ED. “There’s a divorce between the word and the submission,” Justice Ramesh noticed.
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The ED later agreed to withdraw the notices and return the seized supplies, together with telephones, laptops, and arduous drives taken from Bhaskaran’s Alwarpet residence. Orders on interim purposes have been reserved, whereas the primary petitions have been adjourned by 4 weeks.
Bhaskaran, a comparatively new title within the Tamil movie trade, is the producer behind Daybreak Photos and is presently helming three of Tamil cinema’s most anticipated movies – Idli Kadai starring Dhanush, Parashakti that includes Sivakarthikeyan, and Silambarasan TR’s STR 49. Collectively, these initiatives are estimated to be value between Rs 400 and Rs 550 crore.
His title got here up on the ED’s radar not only for the simultaneous high-value productions but in addition for the alleged proximity to DMK and Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Of specific curiosity is Parashakti. Directed by Sudha Kongara and produced with a reported Rs 200 crore funds, the movie is claimed to be a robust political interval drama centred on the anti-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu, with Sivakarthikeyan and Ravi Mohan in pivotal roles. The movie was anticipated to launch earlier than the 2026 meeting polls. Its timing, amid nationwide discussions on federalism, linguistic id, and central overreach, has solely sharpened hypothesis that Bhaskaran’s cinematic ventures may additionally be seen as political expressions.
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The ED’s operations got here simply months earlier than Parashakti is predicted to enter its ultimate manufacturing part.
Of their petitions, Bhaskaran and Ravindran claimed that neither had been named as an accused in any ongoing cash laundering case. Senior counsel for Bhaskaran argued that the producer had no hyperlinks to the TASMAC rip-off and that the seizure of his private digital tools was unlawful. Ravindran, a director at Daybreak Photos, filed two petitions difficult the ED’s sealing of his workplace at Semmenchery and a rented house at Poes Backyard, arguing that the company lacked authorized backing for such motion.
The courtroom, whereas granting the ED time to make clear its place, questioned whether or not notices barring entry into premises amounted to sealing. “No sane particular person would ignore such a discover and stroll in. That concern itself exhibits it’s a de facto sealing,” stated Justice Lakshminarayanan.
The ED’s counsel insisted that the search was based mostly on “credible info” and reiterated that Bhaskaran and Ravindran weren’t accused, however had did not cooperate regardless of repeated makes an attempt by the company to contact them.