The Madras high court on August 20 issued notice to Vikas Kumar, assistant director of Enforcement Directorate, in a contempt of court plea filed by producer Aakash Baskaran (in picture above), alleging that the agency continued a money-laundering probe against him despite a stay order by the high court. A division bench of Justices M.S. Ramesh and V. Lakshminarayanan sought the ED’s response to the plea and posted the case for further hearing on September 17.
Baskaran moved the court, stating that the assistant director had issued him a show cause notice even after the high court had passed an interim order staying the probe against him.
In May this year, the ED had conducted raids and had seized materials from the producer and his associate, Vikram Ravindran, in connection with an alleged Rs. 1,000-crore money-laundering scam involving Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC). The ED also proceeded to seal their residences and offices.
Baskaran and Ravindran challenged the move before the Madras high court. On June 20, the high court stayed all further ED proceedings and ordered the immediate return of the seized materials and unsealing of premises. It called the ED’s actions wholly without jurisdiction, given the lack of incriminating evidence. Earlier this month, the HC also imposed a total fine of Rs. 30,000 cost on ED for failing to file timely counter-affidavits in Baskaran’s three petitions.
