New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday (May 22) stayed the investigation against the state-run Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) and slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for ‘crossing all limits’.A bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice A.G. Masih was hearing petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu government and TASMAC challenging April 23 Madras high court’s rejection of its plea to declare illegal the raids conducted by the ED on the TASMAC headquarters between March 6 and 8, 2025, over alleged irregularities.“You may register against the individuals, but against the corporation a criminal matter? Your ED is crossing all limits, Mr. Raju,” CJI Gavai asked Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the central probe agency, LiveLaw reported.The apex court issued a notice to ED on a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by TASMAC challenging the Madras high court order.Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi, who were representing TASMAC and its employees, argued that the agency had overstepped its mandate by cloning mobile phones and seizing personal devices without due process.“We found some of the people to whom outlets have been given are actually taking cash. So, the State itself filed 41 FIRs from 2014-21 against individuals, not against the corporation. The ED comes into picture in 2025 and raids the corporation (TASMAC) and the head-office. All phones taken, everything taken. Everything cloned,” Sibal said.To this, the CJI asked, “How can there be an offence against the corporation? You may register against the individuals, but against the corporation, a criminal matter?” “You are totally violating the federal structure of the country,” he said.Sibal also urged the top court to restrict the ED from using data they have cloned from the phones and devices. “This is an issue of privacy!” he said. However, the bench held that an interim relief was already granted to the petitioners and it cannot pass further directions.A division bench of the Madras high court had on April 23 dismissed a batch of three writ petitions filed by TASMAC and allowed the ED to conduct the search and seizure operations at its headquarters under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, in connection with an alleged Rs 1,000 scam.The bench had dismissed the pleas saying it was a matter of procedure for employees to be detained during raids and surprise checks.According to media reports, ED recently conducted fresh searches at multiple locations in Tamil Nadu, including the houses of TASMAC managing director S. Visakan and film producer Akash Baskaran. Visakan was reportedly questioned at length for nearly 10 hours.