Chennai: The Madras High Court today stayed the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to five district collectors in Tamil Nadu in connection with alleged illegal sand mining in the state. The court stayed the summons for three weeks.
A two-judge High Court bench comprising Justices SS Sundar and Sundar Mohany yesterday deferred their decision until November 28 on a petition filed by the state Public Department Secretary K Nanthakumar on behalf of the collectors of Ariyalur, Vellore, Thanjavur, Karur, and Tiruchirapalli districts.
The petition sought to invalidate probe agency ED’s summons, which mandated the collectors’ personal presence on various dates to furnish details about sand mining operations within their respective jurisdictions.