In the latest twist in the Kerala gold smuggling probe, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court (SC) seeking a transfer of the case outside the state, alleging “efforts being made by the state authorities to thwart and derail investigation”.
In its transfer petition filed before the top court, the ED said, “Due to the involvement of powerful persons in the State of Kerala, from the very beginning, there has been a concerted effort by the State machinery at the behest of the Respondent No. 4 (M. Sivasankar) to thwart and derail investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).”
The federal probe agency further informed the court that “due to the power and influence wielded in the state of Kerala by M Sivasankar”, the former principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and other persons involved in the case, and keeping in view the suspicious events, “in the interest of ensuring a free and fair trial where all accused persons and witnesses can appear and give their statements freely without fear”, the trial deserves to be transferred away from the state.
“…at every stage of the investigation there has been an intervention and interference by the State machinery in the exercise of power under the PMLA by the Directorate of Enforcement,” the financial watchdogs said in their plea before the Supreme Court.
‘EVIDENCE FABRICATED’
The ED in its plea said, “…accused Shri M. Sivasankar, IAS, is a highly influential person in the State of Kerala by virtue of being the senior most civil servant and having worked as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala. After coming out on bail, Shri M. Sivasankar, IAS has been influencing other accused and is using the state machinery to fabricate false evidence against the Investigating Officer and the Investigating Agency.”
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“In the process two Women State Police Constables who were allegedly on guard duty during the Custody of the accused Smt. Swapna Suresh from 05.08.2020 to 17.08.2020 had given false statements against the investigating officer that he exerted pressure on one of the prime accused to name the Chief Minister of Kerala in the gold smuggling case,” it added.
GROUNDS FOR TRANSFER
The plea filed by the Assistant Director of the ED, Kochi Zone, raises following grounds to transfer the probe:
(i) the State Police at the behest of a highly influential accused is trying to subvert and derail the investigation under PMLA.
(ii) Important persons including Swapna Suresh are being pressured to retract statement(s) given under section 50 of the PMLA and section of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
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(iii) If the trial is continued in Kerala, the highly influential accused persons will create hurdles and also the the co accused would be pressured and threatened into making false allegations and give false evidence, thus derailing the ongoing investigation and trial.
(iv) The false and frivolous allegations are made against the IO with an ulterior motive to tarnish the image of the investigating agency and to sabotage the further investigation with the aid and assistance of highly influential accused and other persons.
(v) There is a gross misuse of the state machinery against the investigation agency and its officers which is clearly evident from the registration of two FIRs by Crime Branch Police Station, Ernakulam district against the officials of ED leading to an unprecedented situation where implementation of rule of law would have become impossible.
WHY KARNATAKA?
The plea filed by the federal probe agency seeks to transfer the cases from Ernakulam to Karnataka.
“…the State of Karnataka to which transfer is being sought is geographically proximate to the State of Kerala,” said the ED, citing the reason.
The ED also cited that one of the accused, Sandeep Nair, after coming out of jail in October, made intentional public statements to “contaminate the public and sensitise the matter to stagnate the investigation”.
“…on coming out of the prison, he addressed the media stating that he was pressurized by ED officials to implicate the Chief Minister of Keralaformer Minister Shri. K.T. Jaleel and former Speaker Shri. Sreeramakrishnan in the Gold Smuggling case. He also stated that Shri M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the CM, seemed to be innocent in this case. The statement of Shri. Sandeep Nair vindicate the stand of ED that he was acting as a tool of the accused Shri. M. Sivasankar,” the ED said in its plea.
THE CASE
On July 5, 2020, 30 kg of 24-carat gold worth Rs 14.82 crore was seized by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs at Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic bag that was meant to be delivered to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.
M Sivasankar was suspended and removed from the post after a preliminary inquiry confirmed that he had links with Swapna Suresh, one of the accused in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe.
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