The Supreme Court has criticised the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for disregarding the fundamental rights of individuals while seeking the transfer of the Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN) scam case from Chhattisgarh to New Delhi. The court expressed disapproval of the agency’s approach, questioning its use of a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, which is intended to protect individual rights.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan challenged the ED on how it could invoke Article 32, which guarantees the right to constitutional remedies. This provision allows individuals—not institutions—to directly approach the Supreme Court when their fundamental rights are violated.

Following the bench’s observations, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the ED, sought permission to withdraw the plea and remarked that “ED also has fundamental rights.” To this, the bench responded, “In a lighter vein, if ED has fundamental rights, it should think about the fundamental rights of people too.”

The court then allowed the plea to be withdrawn.

The case originates from the ED’s allegation that former IAS officer Anil Tuteja misused the anticipatory bail granted to him in the NAN scam case in Chhattisgarh. The agency further alleged that certain constitutional functionaries in the state had been in contact with a High Court judge to secure judicial relief for some accused individuals in the money laundering case linked to the scam.

In addition to seeking a transfer of the case from Chhattisgarh to New Delhi, the ED had also filed a petition seeking the cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to several high-profile accused in the matter.

The case was originally registered in 2019 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on an FIR and charge sheet filed by the Chhattisgarh Police’s Economic Offences Wing and Anti-Corruption Bureau. The alleged scam in the Public Distribution System (PDS) came to light in February 2015, when the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau raided the offices of NAN and seized unaccounted cash amounting to ?3.64 crore.

Investigations revealed that many of the rice and salt samples collected during the raids were of sub-standard quality and deemed unfit for human consumption. At the time, Anil Tuteja was the chairperson of NAN, while Alok Shukla served as its managing director.