Illegal sand mining case: SC pulls up 5 TN DMs for not appearing before ED

The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up five district collectors of Tamil Nadu for not appearing physically before the Enforcement Directorate despite orders in a money laundering probe in connection with alleged illegal sand mining. It directed the officials to appear before the ED personally on April 25. A bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Pankaj Mithal said the officials adopted a "cavalier approach" and the action shows they have no respect for the court, law and the Constitution. "In our opinion, such a cavalier approach will land them in a difficult situation. When the court had passed the order directing them to appear in response to the summons issued by the ED, they were expected to obey the same order and remain present before the ED. "This shows that the officers don't have either respect for the court or the law much less the Constitution of India. Such an approach is strongly deprecated," the bench said. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Amit Anand Tiwari, ...