Tamil Nadu Government to Withdraw Supreme Court Appeal Against ED Probe Into Tasmac

The Tamil Nadu government and the state-run liquor retailer, Tasmac, have decided to withdraw their appeals in the Supreme Court against the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) inspections at the Tasmac headquarters in Chennai. The decision will allow the federal agency to resume its money laundering investigation.

According to a senior official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the state government decided to withdraw the appeal because the ED report contains details concerning party funds. The official stated that the government now wants the investigation to go on. Both the state government and Tasmac are expected to withdraw their appeals in the coming days, and the necessary paperwork for the process is currently underway.

On Friday, government sources confirmed that Tasmac had been officially informed about the decision to withdraw the special leave petition. The state-run liquor retailer was directed by the government to take similar action on its own petition to ensure both appeals are retracted.

The withdrawal petitions are expected to be filed before the Supreme Court's vacation benches. The apex court is currently undergoing its six-week summer recess, which commenced on June 1 and is scheduled to end on July 12. Regular court proceedings are set to resume on July 13. Another official noted that the timing of the legal process depends entirely on when the petition is taken up by the vacation bench during this recess period.

The legal proceedings follow a ruling in May last year, when a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih stayed the money laundering probe against Tasmac. The decision by the government and the retailer to retract their appeals will lift this stay, allowing the ED's investigation into the state-run retailer to proceed.