[Kerala Gold Smuggling] "Only woman in Kerala under COFEPOSA Preventive detention:" Mother of Swapna Suresh moves Kerala High Court

Mother of Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, has filed a petition before the Kerala High Court challenging the continuation of Suresh's preventive detention under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA).(Kumari Prabha Suresh Vs Union of India)..The plea pointed out that Suresh, a mother of two, is currently the only woman in preventive detention under the COFEPOSA..In July 2020, as a result of investigations conducted by various agencies into money laundering, illegal financial transactions and gold smuggling through diplomatic channels, suspected offenders, including Suresh, were arrested and interrogated in Kerala..Suresh was remanded to custody on July 12, 2020.The case is still being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), National Investigative Agency (NIA) and the Customs department..[Kerala Gold smuggling] Accused Swapna Suresh moves Kerala High Court for bail in NIA case.Earlier this week, Suresh had moved the Kerala High Court for bail in the case registered against her by NIA which will be heard by the Court on July 16.Suresh is also presently undergoing preventive detention under COFEPOSA which her mother has challenged through this petition. .The petition, filed through Advocate Sooraj T Elenjickal, challenged the detention order on the grounds that it is illegal, arbitrary and vitiated by improper application of mind..The primary contention raised was that the pre-requisites under Section 3(3) of COFEPOSA and the mandatory safeguards under Article 22 (5) of the Constitution were not adhered to..Section 3(3) of COFEPOSA which deals with the power to make orders detaining certain persons reads as follows:."For the purposes of clause (5) of Article 22 of the Constitution, the communication to a person detained in pursuance of a detention order of the grounds on which the order has been made shall be made as soon as may be after the detention, but ordinarily not later than five days, and in exceptional circumstances and for reasons to be recorded in writing not later than fifteen days, from the date of detention.".According to the petition, ‘grounds of detention’ and ‘relied upon documents’ were not immediately and promptly served as the detaining authority waited until the last date possible for service of documents.Further, it was submitted that the communication of ‘grounds of detention’ was not in terms of Article 22(5) of the Constitution since it was incomplete and did not include copies of all materials relied upon by the detaining authority such as the First Information Report, Remand Report etc. This, it was contended, indicated that there was suppression of material facts by the authorities..The plea further said that as per the information that was provided as 'grounds of detention', the crime details formulated by NIA, ED and Customs are riddled with series of discrepancies and mutual contradiction.Therefore, the grounds of detention were not sufficiently communicated to enable the submission of meaningful representation at the time of her previous hearings in 2020, the petition said. .The detention order and the continued detention of Suresh also do not satisfy the requirements under Section 3(1) of COFEPOSA, it was contended. .The plea also claimed that Suresh suffers from cardiac issues, epilepsy and depression and that her continued detention puts her at high risk of contracting COVID-19. On these grounds, the petition sought quashing of detention. .The case will be heard on Thursday by Division Bench of Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Gopinath P.