LIFE Mission Case: Kerala High Court rejects bail plea of CM Pinarayi Vijayan's former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar

The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant bail to former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its probe into the LIFE Mission project. [M Sivasankar v Union of India & Anr.]..Interestingly, Justice A Badharudeen who delivered the verdict earlier today, had returned the statements of the witnesses that the Additional Solicitor General of India had submitted as it was in a sealed cover. "The same was returned since `sealed cover production of documents' is not a generally accepted rule," the judge explained in the order, seemingly echoing the view taken by the Supreme Court in its recent MediaOne judgment.Instead, the judge called for the entire case records from the Special Court and from it, he noted that the prosecution has specific case, prima facie justified by the available records, as to Sivasankar's involvement. The judge also took note of the fact that after Sivasankar was granted bail in the gold smuggling case, he was quickly reinstated to service to a pivotal post in the State of Kerala, ignoring his possible involvement in serious crimes."..his chance of propensity to tamper with evidence or influencing witnesses, is very much there, since the petitioner is a person having very much influence in the ruling party of Kerala, particularly with the Chief Minister of Kerala. In this matter, the investigation is at the initial stage. Many accused are yet to be arrested including Smt.Swapna Prabha Suresh. Why the prosecution is delaying the arrest of Swapna Prabha Suresh is also a matter of serious concern, though she had an active role in the present crime," the order refusing bail stated. .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) had 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 levelled by the ED on several fronts.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 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..Appearing for Sivasankar, Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta argued that the allegations against Sivasankar in the LIFE Mission case arose from the same set of facts involved in the 2020 gold smuggling case in which Swapna Suresh is one of the main accused. He contended that it has been held by the Supreme Court in TT Antony v. State of Kerala that two crimes cannot be registered on same set of facts.It was submitted that the amount of money alleged to have been given as kickbacks to Sivasankar is less than ₹1 crore which allows grant of bail under PMLA.Gupta also highlighted Sivasankar's medical condition before concluding his arguments..Additional Solicitor General of India, Senior Advocate R Sankaranarayanan, opposed these contentions on behalf of the Central agency.He said that the facts leading to the registration of the two cases are different. He also alleged that the High Court had previously granted bail to Sivasankar in the gold smuggling case on medical grounds but that he had subsequently declined medical procedures and returned to work a few weeks after he was released..[Read Order]