NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday, in an interim order, stayed the Madras High Court's February 17 order directing a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged Rs 5,832 crore beach sand-mining 'scam' in Tamil Nadu.
A two-judge bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan, passed the interim decision, staying the High Court order and directing all parties to maintain the status quo in the case.
"We direct the parties to maintain status quo. We also stay the Madras HC order for a CBI probe," the court said.
On February 17 this year, the Madras High Court had ordered the CBI to investigate the role of unknown public servants and directed the transfer of mineral stocks to Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL)—a move that is now on hold.
The top court passed the interim order after hearing multiple Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) filed by one of the affected parties, V V Mineral, challenging the Madras HC's directive for a CBI probe.
Senior advocates Siddharth Agarwal, Mukul Rohatgi, and Dhruv Mehta appeared for V V Mineral in the apex court and sought a direction for maintaining the status quo and staying the CBI investigation.
During the course of the hearing, the court also dispensed with the service of notice for certain respondents, including Indian Rare Earths Limited and others.
In the same case, the Tamil Nadu government, represented by senior advocates Arvind P Datar and N R Elango, had filed a caveat petition to ensure that the state government's arguments and submissions would be heard before any order or judgment is passed by the top court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the probe agency in this case, had recently conducted raids on April 5, 2025, across 12 locations in Tamil Nadu. It alleged that V V Mineral, X Thar firms, and several others were involved in the illegal mining of minerals in the state.
The CBI alleged illegal mining of rare minerals like monazite, pointing to a nexus between private firms, politicians, and government officials.
While allowing the plea of V V Mineral, which sought a stay on the CBI probe and departmental inquiries, the Supreme Court also issued notice to the respondents and directed all parties to maintain the status quo regarding the Madras HC order passed on February 17, 2025.