The Madras High Court on Friday issued an interim stay on all Enforcement Directorate (ED) proceedings against film producer Akash Bhaskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran in connection with the alleged TASMAC money laundering case. The court also directed the ED to return all properties, including sealed offices, residences, and electronic devices, seized during its May 16 search operation. The order will remain effective until the final adjudication of the writ petitions filed by the two individuals. The bench, comprising Justices M.S. Ramesh and V. Lakshminarayanan, ruled that the ED's searches were conducted without proper jurisdiction due to the absence of incriminating evidence.

Taking a critical view of the ED’s authorisation and its justification for the searches, the court stated that the materials produced “had no semblance” of credible information that could justify allegations of money laundering. The judges also declined to allow a request made by Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, who sought a three-week stay on the operation of the order to allow time to appeal before the Supreme Court. Similarly, a plea by the special public prosecutor for more time to clone seized electronic devices before returning them was also rejected.

The petitioners had approached the court to challenge the legality of the ED’s actions, including the sealing of two premises and the seizure of personal property. Their legal counsel, including senior advocates Vijay Narayan, V. Giri, and Abudu Kumar Rajaratnam, argued that no predicate offence had been registered against them, nor were they named as accused in any First Information Report (FIR). The court’s interim ruling comes as a relief for the petitioners, placing a temporary hold on investigative actions by the ED in what has become a high-profile case involving Tamil Nadu’s liquor distribution network.