Kerala Gold Smuggling Case: Kerala High Court grants suspended CMO bureaucrat M Sivasankar protection from arrest till October 23

The Kerala High Court today restrained the Enforcement Directorate from arresting M Sivasankar, the suspended Principal Secretary to the office of Kerala Chief Minister, till October 23. He has been arrayed as an accused in the gold smuggling case (M. Sivasankar v. State)..Justice Ashok Menon issued the interim order after hearing submissions from Sivasankar’s Counsel Senior Advocate P Vijayabhanu and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who appeared for the Enforcement Directorate..Senior Advocate Vijayabhanu emphasized before the Court that Sivasankar was cooperating with the investigation and that he was willing to appear when summoned..Senior Advocate Vijayabhanu further informed the Court that investigations by three different agencies, the Enforcement Directorate, Customs, and the National Investigation Agency, were ongoing..“He has been appearing before all the three agencies and he has already been questioned … for ninety hours, 9-0… The Enforcement Directorate already questioned the petitioner for almost thirty hours, 3-0. Whenever he’s been asked to appear he has been appearing without fail.”Senior Advocate Vijayabhanu.The Senior Advocate additionally told the Court that the Sivasankar received a communication yesterday seeking a passport-sized photograph and his Aadhaar card, which could be handed over either in person or by an authorised representative. After he sent the documents through an authorised representative, a Notice was issued stating that his non-appearance yesterday amounted to non-cooperation with the investigation and that he had to peremptorily appear at 11 am on October 15..While he was willing to appear, anticipating arrest, he prayed that coercive action not be taken against him in the meanwhile..At this stage, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju interjected and pointed out that the Enforcement Directorate was not made a party to the proceedings despite the case being essentially against the Agency..“The Enforcement Directorate is not a party...we have many things to say”, the ASG remarked..The Additional Solicitor Genral sought additional time to file documents and a rejoinder before the Court..“Till date he has not been arrested. The apprehension is unfounded as far as whatever he says,” the Additional Solicitor General asserted in Court..The Additional Solicitor General also termed Sivasankar’s apprehension of arrest as ‘unfounded’ and rejoined with a query as to why he did not approach the Court after the first summons if he anticipated arrest..The Senior Advocate maintained that Sivasankar is a responsible civil servant who was removed following the media hype around his knowing gold-smuggling accused Swapna Suresh..Nothing incriminating Sivasankar was revealed, despite the summons and questioning that stretched for almost hundred days, he additionally pointed out..Asserting that Sivasankar is a responsible officer, who was suspended from his post of Secretary to the Chief Minister’s Office as a result of "media pressure", the Senior Advocate requested the Court to afford him some protection..The Additional Solicitor General highlighted that the case was serious and involved the smuggling of huge quantities of gold. The possibility of the involvement of certain influential people remained, he submitted additionally..To a query as to why the ED was not made a party, Senior Counsel Vijayabhanu stated that a filing difficulty caused the issue and that foreseeing the same, the respondent in the cause title was ‘the State’..“We have informed everybody…you are also present,” Vijayabhanu sought to urge..“I am present only because I came to know of the matter”, the ASG refuted..Following this, Justice Ashok Menon issued an interim order, whereby Sivasankar has been provided protection from arrest till October 23..The suspended Personal Secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister's Office, M Sivasankar has been at the centre of a political storm after his purported links to gold smuggling case accused, Swapna Suresh, came to be known..Swapna Suresh is alleged to have been part of a group accused of smuggling gold through diplomatic channels. Swapna Suresh is a former employee at the UAE Consulate, Thiruvanathapuram..Sivasankar has maintained he was acquainted with her during her stint at the UAE Consulate and that he interacted with her in his official capacity..Until the news report about the gold smuggling case appeared, he had no knowledge that Suresh was involved in smuggling gold, he has stated.