The Supreme Court on Monday verbally directed the Enforcement Directorate not to harass the five district collectors from Tamil Nadu who had been summoned for questioning in a money-laundering case, The Indian Express reported.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal made the remark while taking note of the Tamil Nadu government’s statements that the district collectors of Vellore, Tiruchirappalli, Karur, Thanjavur and Ariyalur were made to wait from morning till evening by the central agency.

The case pertains to allegations of irregularities and malpractices in the mining and sale of river sand in Tamil Nadu. The Enforcement Directorate is investigating allegations of money laundering linked to the case based on first information reports registered across the state.

On November 28, the Madras High Court had stayed the summons to the district collectors, after which the central agency approached the top court. The Supreme Court on February 27 stayed the High Court order and asked the district collectors to appear before the Enforcement Directorate.

On Monday, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, told the court that the district collectors had appeared for questioning. However, Sibal said that the central agency “made them arrive at 8 in the morning and sit till 6”.

In response, the court told the Enforcement Directorate, represented by Zoheb Hossain, that it cannot do so. “Do not detain them unnecessarily,” Justice Trivedi said. “They have to tend to their districts.”

Justice Mithal added: “Do not harass them unnecessarily.”

Hossain told the court that the district collectors had not shared all the documents that the central agency had asked for, even though they had appeared for questioning. Sibal, however, said that the necessary records had been submitted to the agency.

“My instructions are that no details or documents have been submitted in furtherance of their [the district collectors’] undertaking,” Hossain said, according to PTI. “We can file an affidavit to this effect.”

The court told the central agency to file a report listing the documents that had been sought but were yet to be submitted by the district collectors.

It then listed the matter for further hearing in July.

At a previous hearing on April 2 in the case, the Supreme Court had reprimanded the five district collectors for failing to appear before the Enforcement Directorate despite being summoned. The court said that the officials had displayed a “cavalier approach” and that their actions showed they had no respect for the law.