CM Pinarayi Vijayan's former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar moves Kerala High Court for bail in LIFE Mission case

M Sivasankar, the former principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has approached the Kerala High Court seeking bail in a money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the LIFE Mission housing project of the Kerala government [M Sivasankar v Union of India & Anr.]..Sivasankar's bail plea will be heard by Justice Kauser Edappagath tomorrow..The LIFE (Livelihood, Inclusion and Financial Empowerment) Mission is a housing security scheme of the Kerala government which intends to provide houses to all the landless and homeless residents of the State.The case involves one specific project under this scheme which is alleged to have been funded by a foreign entity in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The issue is also being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).The LIFE Mission project ran into trouble in 2020 after Anil Akkara, then MLA for Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district filed a complaint stating that it violated FCRA norms. His specific complaint was against the project in his constituency of Wadakkanchery.For the project, the State government had agreed to allot land to building contractors chosen by the donors. The project at Wadakkanchery was funded by the UAE consulate’s Red Crescent.Akkara claimed that the Kerala government obtained funds for Unitac builders (which was chosen as contractor) from Red Crescent, thereby, violating the FCRA.The CBI proceeded to file an FIR pursuant to the complaint, naming Unitac’s Santhosh Eappen, Sane Ventures (another contractor), and “unnamed officials of the LIFE Mission project”.There were charges that the LIFE Mission project was awarded to Eappen and Sane venture at the behest of former UAE Consulate employee and gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh working with Sivasankar, who was then the principal secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Office..Sivasankar was arrested on February 14 and has been in custody since then. On March 2, a Special Court for trying offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) dismissed his bail application prompting the present plea before the High Court. In this bail plea, Sivasankar pointed out that the predicate offences, as stated in the arrest order, are an FIR registered by the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (VACB) under the Prevention of Corruption Act and another FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for offences under the FCRA.He submitted that the ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) says that several persons, among whom are some government officials, received pecuniary advantages and illegal gratification out of the funds received from UAE Red Crescent meant for flood victims in Kerala through the LIFE Mission project. The plea assailed the allegations of the ED on several fronts and highlighted some medical issues Sivasankar is facing in order to make the case for his release on bail.Sivasankar categorically stated that he is a well qualified retired public servant who is completely innocent of all the allegations and that his arrest is nothing but a political stunt. "The action of arrest is a political stunt and is aimed at targeting the earlier existed professional privity the petitioner had with he Honorable Chief Minister if Kerala and the entire case is built up as a political hit job by the Enforcement Directorate to falsely implicate the petitioner and by extension the executive head of the State and his family members (sic)," the bail plea stated. The plea also challenged the approach of the Special Court while dismissing his previous bail plea, especially the fact that it had placed reliance on some documents provided by the ED in sealed covers. .The LIFE Mission case and the 2020 Kerala gold smuggling case, which involve alleged smuggling of several kilograms of gold from UAE to India through diplomatic channels, have certain common players including Sivasankar, Swapna Suresh, and Sarith PS.The allegations of Sivasankar's involvement in the LIFE Mission scam also came about during the initial stages of the investigation into the gold smuggling case.In late 2020, Sivansankar was arrested in connection with the gold smuggling case of the ED as well as the Customs Department. After he was granted default bail in the Customs case on January 25, 2021, the Kerala High Court granted him bail in the ED case.