The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has moved the Supreme Court raising grievance against the alleged non-cooperation of the Tamil Nadu in sharing criminal complaints and first information reports (FIRs) concerning offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) [Directorate of Enforcement vs State of Tamil Nadu].The Madras High Court had in December dismissed the bail plea filed by Tiwari, an ED officer who was arrested by the DVAC.Tiwari was arrested after allegedly having been caught accepting a bribe of ₹20 lakh from a doctor in Dindigul.He was remanded to judicial custody on December 1, 2023 after the DVAC claimed he had threatened the doctor and had demanded ₹3 crore to close the pending cases against him.He had later agreed to an amount of ₹51 lakh and the doctor had paid him ₹20 lakh, the DVAC alleged. Tiwari has claimed that the case against him is mala fide.The ED in its plea claimed that the State has a 'deliberate design' in not cooperating by 'conspicuously preventing' the ED from accessing first information reports (FIRs), and not even uploading them in public domain."Whenever a case is registered by the Police, an FIR should be registered and a copy of the same has to be forwarded to the jurisdictional magistrate. The FIR should also be uploaded on the prescribed website so that any person who desires to see the same has access to it," the petition said.By not uploading FIRs in sensitive matters, TN is 'clogging' the system, it was contended."In the fight against crime and to meet the desired objective of PMLA, i.e. to prevent money laundering, it becomes essential that the respective State Police provide to the ED the copies of FIRs and other related evidence/ documents," the plea stated.The recent raids at the ED office in Madurai and the non-appointment of nodal officers to coordinate in money-laundering cases were also flagged.The ED has also prayed that the probe into the bribery allegations against its officer Ankit Tiwari, be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It is currently being probed by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC).
In its plea before the top court, the ED stated that it is moving the apex court to protect the fundamental rights of the victims of money laundering in Tamil Nadu since the central agency is unable to investigate such offences due to non-sharing of information of scheduled offences.A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan is slated to hear the matter on Thursday.
TAGS: Enforcement Directorate (ED) Supreme Court Tamil Nadu Non-cooperation Criminal complaints
