Bengaluru, Aug. 7 -- The Madras high court on Wednesday slapped a fine of Rs.30,000 on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for failing to file counter affidavits in three writ petitions relating to a case of alleged money laundering involving Tamil Nadu government's liquor distribution arm, TASMAC.

A bench of justices MS Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan imposed the fine on ED after finding that the central agency had failed to file counter affidavits in three writ petitions filed by film producer Akash Bhaskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran, who challenged ED's search and seizure operations at their residences and office in connection with the case.

The court had earlier granted time to ED to submit its counters, warning that it would be ...