Latest news with #TASMAC
New Indian Express
01-07-2025
- New Indian Express
Phones promised to us to attend meet: PwDs in Tamil Nadu
TIRUNELVELI: Around 10 visually impaired people submitted a petition to the district administration on Monday during a public grievance redressal meet, alleging that the officials have failed to distribute smartphones after promising to do so. P Shenbagavalli, one of the petitioners, stated, 'The officials from the district revenue office asked us to attend a government event assuring us smartphones and a central government-sponsored scheme. We arrived at 8 am and were present till the end, but no phones were given to us. When we followed up, officials also used abusive language.' Meanwhile, residents of Fathima Nagar near Palayamchettikulam opposed a proposal to open a TASMAC liquor outlet on Melakkulam Road, stating that the area is densely populated and has temples and schools nearby. They also said that the area is prone to crimes like sexual harassment and chain snatching. In another petition, village heads of Malayalamedu and Thenpathu, Kannan and Rajkumar, requested that the invitation for the Nellaiappar temple car festival include the names of their villages and claimed that their community has been performing for years in the car festival. Subramanian, a petitioner, demanded that a public road near Krishnan Kovil in Ward 33 of Palayamkottai zone be reopened soon. Police also detained a man named S Stephen from NGO colony after he was allegedly seen distributing Christian pamphlets near the collectorate. Hindu Munnani functionary Manikanda Mahadevan complained in this regard.
News18
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
DNA Review: Atharvaa's Film Has Good Ideas But Suffers From Generic Execution
Last Updated: DNA Movie Review: Director Nelson's film has a good central idea, but spends too much time on exposition. DNA Movie Review: Director Nelson Venkatesan has a knack for unearthing interesting conflicts that naturally lend themselves to strong screenplays and good film structure. In Monster, a humanitarian is tormented by a rat—a brilliant idea that renders itself effortlessly for an off-beat and comic script. In Farhaana, a married woman from a conservative background finds herself in a fix when she gives in to her whims. With DNA, Nelson has arrived at his best idea yet: a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder insists her newborn isn't hers, casting doubts even in her mother's head. The woman is Divya (Nimisha Sajayan). When we meet her, she is told to keep her mouth shut before her potential groom and his family. But she fails, betraying her eccentricity. Her mom slaps and berates her, saying she would never find a guy. We also meet Anand (Atharvaa). Except for the name, he doesn't have any Anand (joy) in his life. A bad breakup and the eventual suicide of his girlfriend turn him into a marijuana addict and alcoholic. He brings shame to his otherwise honourable family of scholars. After one such embarrassment, his father curses him to rot. After days in rehabilitation, Anand becomes calm. However, his past and unsuccessful career make his father decide that he should 'settle' for Divya. Despite learning about her problems only on the wedding eve, Anand agrees to marry Divya. They have a wonderful phase, which gets punctuated when Divya stubbornly refuses to accept that the baby she is given at the ward is the same one she was shown in the operation theatre. When everyone claims that her mental faculty is the reason behind her complaint, Anand believes her—and thus begins an investigation into the dark world of child trafficking and human sacrifice. But, as with all his previous ventures, Nelson stumbles with the execution. DNA takes a lot of time to get down to business. While it is understandable that Nelson wants to set some background for Anand and Divya, we spend way too much time here. Also, such deliberation and reasoning to show why someone would marry a person with a mental disorder is a bit unsettling. Furthermore, Divya's mental condition doesn't serve much to the film's story except that she can notice minute and subtle details, like the difference even in newborns. But these nuanced problems are forgivable, given that the film suffers from a lot more obvious blunders. Some of them are issues one would assume Tamil cinema has long moved past. An example is all the songs. We have a typical TASMAC breakup song and another pointless bar song with Gayathrie Shankar. The songs reminded me of the dialogue from Thug Life about feasting on a banana leaf. Also, the prologue of the film is unnecessarily misleading. While it leaves one constantly pondering the connection between the segment and the film, it feels like a bit of cheating when things get revealed. Nelson employs such techniques to build tension, but sometimes they invoke frustration instead—like the build-up he employs in revealing Bose Venkat's character. The prolonged suspense in the case is unnecessary because it does not reveal anything significant. Such problems get magnified when juxtaposed with all the wonderful things Nelson achieves in the film. The performances, the exploration, and the engaging police procedural make DNA a solid film—except for the misgivings that sporadically annoy. Such frustration isn't from a place of utter disappointment—DNA is still a largely engaging thriller that leaves you guessing throughout—but from a place of lamentation about a film that fell short of greatness. First Published:
NDTV
20-06-2025
- NDTV
Madras High Court Stays Probe Agency ED Action Against Producer Vikram Ravindran, Associate
Chennai: In a major setback for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the high-profile TASMAC money laundering probe, the Madras High Court has stayed proceedings against Tamil film producer Vikram Ravindran and his associate, ruling that the ED's search and seizure operation was without authority and jurisdiction. The court also directed the ED to return all properties seized during the raid including electronic devices, with a caveat that the petitioners must not tamper with or alienate the contents of the returned items. Delivering a scathing verdict, the court noted that the ED failed to produce any incriminating material that would justify initiating proceedings against the petitioners. Despite being given two opportunities to submit evidence justifying the search, the agency could not furnish any document that suggested Mr Ravindran and his friend were involved in money laundering linked to the Rs 1,000 crore TASMAC scam. "The material presented in a sealed cover does not contain any semblance of information, which may have led them to believe that the petitioner may be involved in the offence of money laundering," the court said. It said no incriminating documents were in the ED's possession when the search was first authorised. The petitioners said they had no role in TASMAC operations and were not named in any of the 41 first information reports filed by the state's directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption. The ED earlier claimed to possess incriminating documents and alleged the duo's involvement. Alleging a Rs 1,000 crore scam in TASMAC, the government arm that sells liquor, the ED accused distilleries and bottle manufacturing firms of colluding in corrupt practices amounting to over Rs 1,000 crore. In a significant development during the hearing, the ED said it had no authority to seal the petitioners' properties and agreed to de-seal the premises. This comes at a time when the Supreme Court has already stayed the ED probe into the TASMAC case, expressing concern over the agency's aggressive approach. The Supreme Court questioned the very basis of criminal action against a state-run corporation, particularly when FIRs were registered against individuals and not the corporation itself. It had also warned that the ED was "crossing all limits" and "breaching the federal structure". The ruling DMK has repeatedly alleged that central agencies like the ED are being misused by the BJP-led Union government to target Opposition-ruled states and political rivals. The BJP has denied all such charges. Opposition parties have highlighted the ED's alleged coercive role in extracting large political donations under the now-scrapped electoral bonds scheme.
Hindustan Times
20-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Madras HC stays ED proceedings against film producer, bizman
Chennai, The Madras High Court on Friday stayed all further proceedings, pursuant to the Enforcement Directorate's authorisation to conduct search and seizure, against film producer Akash Baskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran in the alleged ₹1,000 crore TASMAC money laundering case. A division bench comprising Justices M S Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan granted the interim stay on the petitions filed by Baskaran and Vikram, challenging the action of the ED. Senior counsels Vijay Narayanan and Abudukumar submitted that the petitioners have no involvement with the TASMAC operations at all and in the alleged 41 FIRs lodged by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption for the scheduled offences, no independent allegation or predicate offence has been registered against the petitioners and therefore questioned the validity of the invocation of Section 17 of the PMLA. In its order, the bench said since the petitioners had totally denied any involvement relating to the scheduled offences, it had called upon the Special Public Prosecutor to produce before it the materials forming the basis of information in their possession, which has led them to believe that the petitioners had committed an act, which constitutes money laundering or is in possession of any proceeds of crime, records or property, in a sealed cover, through an interim order dated June 13, 2025. On June 17, the SPP produced a sealed cover along with an undated and unsigned brief explanation note along with supporting materials, claiming it to be the information they possess about the petitioners, which led them to initiate the search operations, the bench added. The bench said the brief explanation note, however, also does not relate to the information or materials which the Directorate claims to have in possession in their earlier notes on "reason to believe" produced on June 17. Neither does this brief explanation note disclose any information in the possession of the Directorate, which authorises them to conduct the search and seizure operations in the petitioners premises, the bench added. The bench said when it indicated to Additional Solicitor General S V Raju that whatever the information/materials they had produced before it in the sealed cover had no nexus to their original claims of being in possession of incriminating information, he submitted that the 41 FIRs, relating to the scheduled offences registered against the TASMAC officials, were the information in their possession, which authorises them to conduct the search and seizure operation. "When we expressed to the Additional Solicitor General that we do not approve his claim in this regard, the Additional Solicitor General submitted that they had already directed the respondent to de-seal the petitioner's premises . His statement is hereby recorded. The Additional Solicitor General sought four weeks time to file a counter affidavit before us," the bench added. The bench said, "On a prima facie view, we find that the Authorisation No.96/2025, dated May 15,2025 and the consequential sealing of the petitioner's premises by the respondent, is wholly without authority or jurisdiction, since no incriminating information or material was in their possession on May 15, 2025 when the respondent had authorised for search and seizure operations and on May 16, 2025 when the respondent had sealed the petitioner's premises". The bench said it consciously refrained from describing the alleged material or information claimed to be in the possession of the ED for obvious reasons. However, it would suffice to state that the so-called information produced by the Directorate before it has absolutely no semblance of an information, which may have led them to believe that the petitioner may be involved in the offence of money laundering. "In the light of the above observations, there shall be an order of interim stay of all further proceedings, pursuant to the respondent's Authorization No.96/2025 dated May, 15,.2025, pending disposal of this Writ Petition", the bench added. The bench said there shall be a further interim order to the ED to return all the seized properties of the petitioners, pursuant to the search and seizure operations conducted on May 16, pending final disposal of this Writ Petition. The petitioners shall not tamper or alienate the digital devices that has been returned to him/to be returned to him, pending final disposal of this writ petition. The bench posted to July 16, for further hearing of the case.
The Hindu
20-06-2025
- The Hindu
TASMAC money laundering case: Madras High Court stays further ED proceedings against film producer Akash Baskaran, businessman friend Vikram Ravindran
The Madras High Court, on Friday (June 20, 2025) stayed all further proceedings to be taken by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) against film producer Akash Baskaran and his friend Vikram Ravindran in connection with the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) money laundering probe. A Division Bench of Justices M.S. Ramesh and V. Laksminarayanan granted the interim stay after being prima facie satisfied that an authorisation issued by a Joint Director of ED on May 15 and the consequential search and seizure operations at their residences and office was 'wholly without authority or jurisdiction.' The judges went through the ED records produced before the court in a sealed cover and found no incriminating information or material, connecting the two writ petitioners with the TASMAC money laundering case, was available with them when the authorisation for search and seizure was issued by the Joint Director on May 15, 2025. 'It would be suffice to state that the so called information produced by the Directorate before us had absolutely no semblance of information which may have led them to believe that the petitioners may be involved in the offence of money laundering. In the light of the above observations, there shall be an order of interim stay,' the Bench added. The judges also directed ED to return to the petitioners all materials including a laptop, a hard drive, three external hard disks, three iPhones, one more mobile phone and the lease rental deeds with respect to their office at Semmenchery and Mr. Ravindran's residence at Poes Garden which were seized from Mr. Baskaran's residence on May 16. The Bench made it clear the petitioners must not tamper with or alienate any of those seized materials until further orders from the court and directed the High Court Registry too to keep a copy of the records produced by the ED, in a sealed cover, in safe custody so that they could be used during final hearing of the writ petitions. Though Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju urged the Division Bench to keep their interim stay order in abeyance for a period of three weeks to enable the ED to file an appeal before the Supreme Court if they chose to do so, the judges refused to accept the request and said, their order copy would be issued on Friday itself.
