The ED said the FIRs were registered by the State against accused Swapna Suresh as a “counter-blast” to her statement before a Magistrate. File | Photo Credit: Reuters

ED seeks adjournment in Kerala gold smuggling case trial

Probe agency had sought transfer of case to Karnataka saying that Kerala govt. was intimidating the accused and witnesses

by · The Hindu

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Tuesday (November 19, 2024) in the Supreme Court sought an adjournment of the hearing of its plea to transfer the gold smuggling case from Kerala to Karnataka, sparking an oral comment from the Bench whether the Central agency was really intent on pursuing the case.

A Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S.V.N. Bhatti listed the case after six weeks. The adjournment was given on the ground that Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, appearing for the Central agency, was not available.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Kerala government, drew the court’s attention to the repeated adjournments sought by the ED in the case.

“Once again, prayer for adjournment is made on behalf of the petitioner, citing the difficulty of the ASG...” the Bench recorded.

The ED had sought the transfer on the ground that the Kerala government was putting “pressure, intimidating and influencing the accused/witnesses”.

The Central agency said the FIRs were registered by the State against accused Swapna Suresh as a “counter-blast” to her statement before a Magistrate. The ED had argued that if a statement of an accused to the Magistrate could cause so much disturbance, how would the State qualify to host a fair and independent trial free from external and extraneous influences.

“This clearly establishes the case of the ED to seek a transfer of the trial out of Kerala... In the present case, a Central investigation agency is filing for a transfer in view of the fact that powerful persons in the State government are involved and in view of demonstrated misuse of State power to thwart proceedings,” the ED had contended.

The NIA, ED, and Customs had conducted separate investigation into the racket that was busted with the seizure of gold worth ₹15 crore from the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5, 2020.

Several people, including M. Sivasankar, a former Principal Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and a former employee of the UAE Consulate, Sarith P.S., were arrested in connection with the case.

Published - November 19, 2024 08:59 pm IST