New Delhi:Kerela government has moved the Supreme Court against the Enforcement Directorate's plea to transfer the 2020 gold smuggling case to Bengaluru. The state government reasoned that ED has not given any substantial reason to transfer the case and if the case is transferred without any reason then the governance of the state will be discredited.
Representing the Kerala government, additional chief secretary Dr Venu V, who is also the home secretary, said that ED has made allegations against the political offices without making them party to the case and most of the documents produced by ED, especially the statements of the accused have no basis for the case.
The state government said that it has not obstructed the investigation in any manner and even though it is alleged that politicians are involved, the case should be solved in the state and all the ministers will cooperate as they always do with the central agencies. The matter is likely to be heard on October 10 by Chief Justice UU Lalit-led bench.
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Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate moved a plea in the Supreme Court seeking transfer of trial in the case pending, before the Special Court for PMLA Cases, Ernakulam to a Special Court for hearing PMLA cases in Karnataka.
In the petition, the agency sought transfer of the trial on the ground that the concerned respondents "are being influenced and intimidated through threats and false cases by senior Officials of Kerala Police and the state government...in order to thwart and derail the trial and thereby protect certain powerful individuals holding important positions in government who are involved in the case."
The ED said, "Respondent M Sivasankar is one of the senior-most IAS Officers in the State of Kerala who at the relevant time when the offence under section 3 of PMLA was committed was the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of the State and he wields substantial power and influence in the State of Kerala and has been actively deploying the same to thwart and frustrate the proceedings and trial under PMLA by trying to threaten the other co-accused in the matter."
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In 2020, the Customs Commissionerate (Preventive), Cochin registered a case against Sarith PS, former PRO at UAE Consulate, Swapna Prabha Suresh, former Secretary to Consul General of UAE Consulate, Sandeep Nair and others relating to the seizure of 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crores at Trivandrum International Airport which was camouflaged as diplomatic baggage to UAE Consulate which is immune to checking at airport as per the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
This seizure was only the tip of the iceberg and there were 21 such consignments of gold which was smuggled into India, which runs to more than Rs 80 crores. Thereafter, a case was registered by the National Investigation Agency under sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 against the three individuals on July 10 2020. Both offences registered by NIA and the Customs have scheduled offences under the PMLA, 2002.
The ED also stressed that based on the case registered by the NIA, an Enforcement case was recorded on July 13 2020 by the Enforcement Directorate.
