The Supreme Court has agreed to examine whether the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can invoke the writ jurisdiction of constitutional courts. On January 20, a Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma admitted petitions by Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments. They challenged a Kerala High Court ruling that upheld ED’s right to seek writ relief. The court will hear the matter in four weeks. In India, the Supreme Court can issue prerogative writs under Article 32 mainly to enforce fundamental rights. High Courts use similar powers under Article 226 with a wider scope. These writs include habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, and quo warranto. However, writs are discretionary and not issued if alternative remedies exist. The core dispute began with the Kerala High Court’s September 2025 ruling. The bench said the Enforcement Directorate, set up under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, is a statutory body entitled to file writs. This arose after ED challenged Kerala’s Commission of Inquiry into a gold smuggling case involving 30 kg of gold seized in 2020. The Kerala government argued that ED is just a Union government department, not a separate legal entity that can sue. It said only the Supreme Court can hear disputes between Centre and State under Article 131. The State also cited a 2003 Supreme Court case discouraging Centre and State from filing writs against each other in High Courts. The High Court rejected Kerala’s objection, saying ED officers have statutory powers and the agency has legal capacity despite being a government department. The court called the State's objection a “trivial defect”. Kerala's appeal to the Supreme Court states that the Deputy Director of ED lacks legal standing to file writs. It says the High Court’s judgment is “erroneous” since the ED is not a juristic person. Tamil Nadu supports Kerala, claiming ED abused the legal process by filing a similar writ in the Madras High Court regarding illegal mining. Legal experts say the main question is whether ED is like other statutory bodies with the right to sue or just an arm of the Union government. If not a legal entity, ED’s disputes with States should be handled as Centre-State conflicts in the Supreme Court, not by writ petitions in High Courts. The decision will clarify this critical constitutional issue.