[Kerala Gold Smuggling] Allegations against him "delightfully vague": M Sivasankar to Kerala High Court

The charge against him in relation to the Gold smuggling incident are "delightfully vague" and not specific as to dates and facts, M Sivasankar, the former principal secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister to Pinarayi Vijayan, told the Kerala High Court on Wednesday.

. The submissions was made before a single-judge Bench of Justice Ashok Menon in the bail application filed by Sivasankar in the case filed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) accusing him of involvement in gold smuggling through diplomatic channel.

. Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta appeared and argued on behalf of Sivasankar through video conference before a single-judge Bench of Justice Ashok Menon .

. Sivasankar, a 1995-batch IAS officer, has been embroiled in the Kerala Gold smuggling case and is currently under the custody of ED. He is also being probed by Customs Department and National Investigation Agency (NIA).

. Gupta argued that Sivasankar had no connection to the gold smuggling incident and placed reliance on statements by witnesses to buttress the claim that Sivasankar knew other accused in the case only in an official and social capacity.

. The Senior Counsel also cited Section 45 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA) and the judgment of the Supreme Court in Nikesh Tarachand Shah.

Section 45(1) bars the grant of bail on allegations of offences under the PMLA unless:

The Prosecution accedes to the request, or

The Court finds reasonable grounds to believe the person's innocence and he is unlikely to commit an offence when enlarged on bail.

. Gupta contended that Sivasankar could be allowed bail under Section 45 on two alternative counts:

. The twin conditions that determined a grant of bail under Section 45 of the Act were declared unconstitutional in Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India

Alternatively, the proviso to Section 45 allowed a court to grant bail under the PMLA if the bail applicant in question was infirm, unwell, or was not involved in laundering an amount beyond Rs. 1 Crore.

. The petitioner's case squarely fell under either of these alternatives, which could be appropriately decided by the court, it was submitted.

. Upon Senior Advocate Gupta's request to continue hearing on another date, the matter was posted for December 8, 2020.

.[Gold Smuggling Case] Suspended Personal Secretary to Kerala CM, M Sivasankar moves Kerala High Court for bail. The beleaguered former principal secretary had previously approached the High Court for anticipatory bail, which was rejected .

.[Breaking] Kerala Gold Smuggling Case: Kerala High Court dismisses Sivasankar's Anticipatory Bail Applications. Later, upon his arrest by the ED, he moved a regular bail application before a Special Court constituted under the PMLA at Ernakulam. The Special Court rejected his application on November 24, stating that it was not possible to say there were no reasonable grounds to conclude his complicity just yet .

. He immediately moved the High Court for bail thereafter.

[Kerala Gold Smuggling] Allegations against him "delightfully vague": M Sivasankar to Kerala High Court

Lydia Suzanne Thomas

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