Chennai, March 21 -- In a temporary relief to Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), the Madras high court on Thursday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) not to proceed further with its searches at the state-run liquor retailer's headquarters in the city till the next hearing on March 25.

The order was passed by a bench of justices MS Ramesh and N Senthilkumar while hearing a joint petition filed by the Tamil Nadu government and TASMAC, contending that ED searches, launched earlier this month, were excessive and beyond its jurisdiction.

The petition stated that the liquor retailer was not given the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) or told what the predicate offence was. The petition also alleged that ED barged...