Kerala High Court dismisses anticipatory bail plea of Swapna Suresh

The Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea moved by two of the main accused in the gold smuggling case of 2020, Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS, in a new case registered by the Kerala Police after Suresh's recent allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan [Swapna Suresh & Anr. v Station House Officer & Anr.]..Justice Viju Abraham observed that the offences alleged in the first information report registered against Suresh under Section 153 (provocation with intention to cause riot) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), are both bailable offences.He also noted that the second petitioner, Sarith, was not even arrainged as an accused. The Court, therefore, deemed it fit to dismiss the plea for anticipatory bail. .In July 2020, pursuant to an investigation conducted by Enforcement Directorate (ED) into money laundering, illegal financial transactions and massive gold smuggling through diplomatic channels, suspected offenders, including Suresh, were arrested and interrogated in Kerala.After spending over a year in jail, Suresh was released in November 2021 after securing bail.A few days ago, after she recorded a statement in the gold smuggling case before a Magistrate Court, Suresh spoke to the media alleging that the Chief Minister, his wife and daughter, Member of Legislative Assembly KT Jaleel and several high ranking officials were involved in anti-social and anti-national activities involving the Consulate where she used to be employed. She revealed that she had deposed in detail about the same before the Magistrate.A blazing political row ensued with allegations and counter-allegations flying at political parties across the board.Subsequently, former education minister and current Member of Legislative Assembly of the ruling front, KT Jaleel, filed a complaint at the Thiruvananthapuram Cantonement Police Station.This led to the registration of the FIR prompting Suresh to approach the court apprehending arrest..In the bail application moved by Suresh and Sarith through advocates R Krishna Raj, R Pratheesh, ES Soni, Sangeetha S Nair and Resmi A, it has been stated that the complaint lodged by Jaleel was a false one.The plea also claimed that the petitioners were falsely implicated in all the cases against them arising out of gold smuggling.It was stated that yesterday, on June 8, a person claiming to be close to the Chief Minister and veteran CPI(M) leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan came to meet her and pressured her to withdraw her 164 statement."He informed that already a case has been registered against the 1st petitioner and if they do not surrender before the Chief Minister by openly stating that she has given the 164 statement at the instigation of the petitioners’ present counsel, the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party. He threatened the petitioners with dire consequences to the effect that they will not see daylight as cases will be registered against them in such a way they will have to remain in jail for long," the plea said..However, the Public Prosecutor argued that the filing of this plea is only one more method in their arsenal to spread some false information through the media. He also submitted that the petitioners had not produced any substantial facts to attest that they actually apprehended arrest.