During the hearing of Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea concerning the absence of certain District Collectors of Tamil Nadu in connection with a sand mining money laundering case, the Supreme Court emphasized to the agency the importance of avoiding unnecessary harassment of the Collectors.

Before a bench comprising Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal, the issue had been raised previously, where the bench expressed disapproval towards the Collectors for their refusal to comply with the court's directives to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and address the summons.

Today, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Tamil Nadu, informed the court that the District Collectors had appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) following the previous hearing. Concurring with Sibal's statement, Advocate Zoheb Hossain, representing the ED, acknowledged that while the Collectors did appear, they failed to provide the documents or details requested by the agency.

Sibal countered the submission by stating that all the information and documents requested by the agency in the summons had indeed been provided.

At Hossain's request, the bench agreed to re-list the matter and instructed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file an affidavit specifying the documents that were requested in the summons but were not provided by the Collectors.

During the hearing, Sibal also highlighted that the ED officials had called the concerned Collectors at 11 AM and kept them waiting until 8:30 PM, which was criticized by Justice Trivedi. In response, Justice Trivedi advised Hossain that such actions were unacceptable, emphasizing that the Collectors should not be retained unnecessarily. Justice Mithal echoed a similar sentiment, urging the Enforcement Directorate to refrain from unnecessarily harassing the Collectors.

The matter is now listed after vacations.