Kerala gold smuggling: HC orders Crime Branch to not arrest ED officials till March 30

In a relief to ED officials, a single-judge bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the state police to not take coercive action against them until March 30. This came on a plea filed by the Deputy Director of the ED assailing the FIR filed by the Crime Branch on March 17. Filed under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 192 (fabricating false evidence), 195-A (threatening any person to give false evidence) among others of the IPC, it accused ED officials of "forcing" gold smuggling scam accused Swapna Suresh to give statements against CM Pinarayi Vijayan. 

The ED officials who questioned Suresh on August 12 and 13 last year have been accused of fabricating evidence. The police filed this case in pursuance of the investigation into her voice clip which circulated a few months ago. Appearing for the Central agency, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta termed the allegations in the FIR baseless and argued that Suresh had not retracted these statements made before a Magistrate. While observing that he has counters for all the arguments made by the Defence, senior government pleader Suman Chakravarthy informed Justice VG Arun that he needed more time to seek instructions. In the meantime, he assured that the ED officials will not be arrested. The arguments will now continue on next Tuesday. 

Gold smuggling scam probe

The Vijayan-led government in Kerala has also been facing heat in the gold smuggling scam ahead with the opposition seeking the CM's ouster. On July 5, 2020, Customs officials seized 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport from a diplomatic cargo addressed to a person in the UAE Consulate. Sarith PS who worked at the UAE Consulate was apprehended in this regard. Subsequently, Swapna Suresh, an ex-Consulate employee working as the manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited and M Sivasankar, the ex-Principal Secretary to Kerala CM were also arrested in this case.

In January 2020, the NIA filed a chargesheet before the Special Court. Claiming that the conspiracy started in June 2019, the agency alleged that the aforesaid persons raised funds and smuggled 167 kg of gold between November 2019 and June 2020 through the import cargo addressed to diplomats at the Consulate General of UAE in Thiruvananthapuram. Moreover, it added that the main accused had planned to smuggle more gold from countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Holding them responsible for threatening the "economic security of India", the agency revealed that the probe against absconding persons and others who facilitated the crime is underway.