Kerala: On April 12, the Kerala High Court dismissed a petition seeking directions to Customs and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to conduct a fair and time-bound investigation in the Kerala Gold Smuggling Case. The petition also sought further directions to monitor the investigation.
The petitioner alleged that Swapna Suresh has mentioned the involvement of Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family members, as well as former Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and other high-ranking officials in the Chief Minister Office in gold smuggling, money laundering and other corrupt activities. The petitioner alleged that the agencies have failed to investigate the role of these persons mentioned. Furthermore, the petitioner alleged that though the Customs and the ED had initially proceeded with the investigation, it has come to a standstill, enabling the accused to tamper with the evidence.
The Court dismissed the petition observing that the petitioner’s allegations against agencies’ failure to conduct a proper investigation are baseless. The Court said, “On an appreciation of the above circumstances, it is evident that even the very apprehension expressed by the petitioner regarding the non-conduct of a fair and proper investigation is without any basis.”
“The Customs as well as the Enforcement Directorate, have conducted or are conducting proper investigations. There are also no reasons to assume that if the involvement of any person is revealed in the investigation, they will not be proceeded against. For, the dictum “Be you ever so high, the law is above you” applies with equal vigour to all, irrespective of status or position,” the Court said.
The Government of India’s counsel submitted that a case has been registered and arrests have been made after the revelation of gold smuggling. Furthermore, it was submitted that the prosecution has been initiated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The Court noted, “Further, there are sufficient provisions under law to add parties in case any offence is revealed later as having been committed by any person. Therefore the first relief claimed by the petitioner does not arise for consideration even on merits.”
The Court said, “Yet again, no materials are available to assume that the investigation is not being conducted properly. Other than assumptions that the investigation is not being conducted properly, petitioner has not produced any material before this Court to arrive at a conclusion that the investigation would proceed contrary to law.”
Kerala Gold Smuggling and Life Mission Scam Case
On July 5, 2020, the Customs and Preventive Commissionerate seized 30 Kgs of gold from a diplomatic cargo and on preliminary enquiry, the Customs found that Swapna Suresh played a major role in gold smuggling activities. The consignment worth Rs 15 crore was sent by air cargo at the international airport in Thiruvananthapuram.
The case turned controversial for the Kerala Government after the involvement of former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, M Sivasankar, was discovered. The former Principal Secretary was found in regular touch with Swapna Suresh based on call records. He was arrested in October 2020 by Customs on gold smuggling allegations.
It is pertinent to note that on February 15, 2023, the ED arrested Sivasankar for his involvement in the Life Mission Scam. Santhosh Eapan, the managing director of UNITAC, the construction firm selected for the construction of the houses under the LIFE Mission project had informed ED that the accused in the case including Swapna Suresh had received a bribe worth Rs 4.48 crore for the project.
It is also pertinent to note that last month Swapna Suresh said in a statement that the alleged middleman Vijesh Pillai approached her with Rs 30 crores to hand over evidence against Pinarayi Vijayan and his family members.
