The Madras High Court rejected writ petitions filed by Tamil Nadu Minister for Rural Development I. Periyasamy and his family members challenging enforcement actions by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in a money laundering case. The petitions sought to quash the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered against them under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The ED pointed out that the petitioners had not followed the statutory remedy available under the PMLA.
A First Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan, declined to entertain the petitions. The ED’s Special Public Prosecutor highlighted that the petitioners should have first approached the adjudicating authority under the PMLA before seeking relief from the High Court. The ECIR against the Minister and his family arose from a Disproportionate Assets case investigated by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC).
The court was informed during the hearing that a special court had previously discharged the Minister from the predicate offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act. However, the Madras High Court later overturned this discharge in 2025, reviving the corruption case against him. Despite an interim stay granted by the Supreme Court on the High Court’s order, the High Court did not accept the argument that the ED’s money laundering proceedings should be quashed. The Division Bench ruled that the ED proceedings could continue as the petitioners had not exhausted the alternative remedy provided under the PMLA.
The Madras High Court’s decision allows the ED proceedings to move forward, pending the outcome of related matters before the Supreme Court.
