New Delhi, Jan. 21 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine whether the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is entitled to file writ petitions seeking relief, as it admitted separate petitions filed by the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments challenging a Kerala high court ruling that had upheld the investigating agency's right to do so. A bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma issued notices on the pleas filed by the two states after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kerala, pointed out that the Kerala HC order passed on September 26, 2025, would also have a bearing on Tamil Nadu, which has raised a similar objection to the ED's move to approach the Madras high court seeking to quash criminal cases lodged against it by the state. The September 26 order held that the ED is a statutory body, that its officers are designated statutory authorities, and that they are not deprived of their statutory right to seek recourse under Article 226 of the Constitution, which empowers high courts to issue writs. The Kerala high court order arose from a petition filed by the ED challenging the Kerala government's decision to constitute a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) in the gold smuggling case. The case acquired political sensitivity after the prime accused, Swapna Prabha Suresh, recorded an audio clip that was released to the media, alleging that the ED was coercing her to implicate persons holding high office in the state. This was followed by a letter from a co-accused making similar allegations. The Pinarayi Vijayan government subsequently requested the CoI to probe the audio clip and the letter to ascertain the truth. The ED had approached the Kerala high court in 2021 challenging the May 7, 2021, order constituting the CoI. The Kerala government raised a preliminary objection, questioning the ED's right to challenge a state order that, according to it, had no connection with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)....