Justice Kauser Edappagath of the Kerala High Court on Monday recused himself from hearing a petition filed by M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, seeking a three-month interim bail in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered money-laundering case for undergoing medical treatment.
The court also ordered that the petition be posted before the judge who had earlier decided his bail pleas, after getting permission from the Chief Justice.
When the petition came up for hearing, Deputy Solicitor General of India S. Manu, appearing for ED, submitted that the Supreme Court had granted Sivasankar liberty to approach the special court for seeking interim bail in case of medical emergency only because the apex court was about to close for summer vacation. Therefore, the court had passed the order for a narrow and limited purpose. Besides, his petition was still pending before the Supreme Court which resumed its sittings.
