Madras High Court Issues Contempt Notice to ED Officer for Defying Stay in Akash Baskaran Case

The Madras High Court on Wednesday issued notice to Enforcement Directorate (ED) Assistant Director Vikas Kumar in a contempt petition filed by film producer Akash Baskaran. Baskaran alleged that the ED continued its money laundering probe against him despite a stay order passed by the Court in June this year [Shri Akash Baskaran v The Joint Director and Others].

A Division Bench of Justices MS Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan directed issuance of statutory notice to the officer and posted the matter for further hearing on September 17.

Baskaran contended that the Assistant Director had issued him a show cause notice even though the High Court had earlier restrained the ED from proceeding further in the case.

The matter traces back to May 2025, when the ED conducted raids on Baskaran and his associate, Vikram Ravindran, in connection with an alleged ₹1,000-crore money laundering scam linked to the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC). Their residences and offices were sealed and materials seized during the operation.

Challenging these actions, the duo approached the High Court, arguing that such sealing was not authorised under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). On June 20, the Court stayed all further proceedings, ordered the return of seized material, and directed the unsealing of premises, terming the ED’s actions “wholly without jurisdiction” in the absence of incriminating evidence.

In August, the Court also imposed costs of ₹30,000 on the agency for its repeated failure to file counter-affidavits in three petitions filed by Baskaran.