Former principal secretary to the Kerala chief minister, M Sivasankar, an accused in a money laundering case related to gold smuggling through the UAE consulate in the state capital, has filed an objection petition in the Supreme Court against the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) bid to shift the case out of the state.
The ED moved the Supreme Court last week saying there were deliberate attempts to weaken the case and cited the Kerala police case against ED officials and a judicial commission against the central agency. “Due to involvement of powerful persons, from the very beginning there has been a concerted effort at the behest of the respondent No 4 to thwart and derail the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),” it said.
In the plea, the senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer requested the court not to take any action on the ED petition to shift the case without hearing him out in detail. He said the move was politically-motivated and it was not proper to shift the case to another state after filing the charge-sheet. The state government is yet to announce its decision on this.
It also mentioned the recent statement of prime accused Swapna Suresh given under 164 of CrPC in which she raised serious charges against the CM and his family members. The central agency said it wants to shift the case to Bengaluru for a speedy trial.
Sivasankar is the fourth accused in the PMLA case related to the gold smuggling case registered in 2020. The gold smuggling came to light on July 5, 2020 when the customs seized 30 kg gold concealed in bathroom fittings in one of the consignments, camouflaged as diplomatic baggage that came in the name of the UAE consulate in the state capital.
A former employee of the consulate P S Sarith who came to receive the consignment was arrested the same day and after a week the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Swapna Suresh and her accomplice Sandeep Nair from their hideout in Bengaluru. After Sivasankar’s alleged liaison with Suresh emerged, the government suspended him and three months later he was arrested by central agencies. After his release his suspension was revoked and the former bureaucrat was taken back in government service in January this year.
In the case filed by customs Sivasankar is the 29th accused. Since the gold consignment was found camouflaged in diplomatic baggage it was exempted from inspection under the Vienna Convention. In the charge sheet customs said the gang smuggled around 180 kg of gold between November 2019 and June 2020 through the consulate.
