The Supreme Court on October 10, 2022 sought a response from Kerala on a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to transfer the Kerala gold smuggling case to a court in neighbouring Karnataka.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat impleaded the State of Kerala and asked it to file its reply by the end of the week and scheduled the case for disposal on October 20.
The court also issued notice to M. Sivasankar, a senior IAS officer, who is also named in the gold smuggling case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the ED, submitted that one of the accused, Swapna Suresh, was threatened in jail by some persons believed to be senior prison officials.
Kerala, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate C.K. Sasi, pointed out that it was not made a party by the ED in the transfer plea despite allegations being made against the State government.
Mr. Sibal objected to an oral remark by Mr. Mehta indicating that higher-ups in the echelons of the State government, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, may be "involved" in the case.
The case is centered around the smuggling of large quantities of gold through diplomatic channels.
The ED said there is a clear and possible danger that witnesses may be influenced if the case was tried in Kerala.
Recently, Swapna had given a confession statement under 164 (5) of the Criminal Procedure Code before a Magistrate in which she made explosive claims about the Chief Minister and his family. Her statements had raised a political uproar in the State.
The ED is conducting a probe based on the National Investigation Agency’s FIR against Sarith P.S., Swapna, Faisal Fareed and Sandeep Nair under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The smuggling racket was busted after the Customs Commissionerate (Preventive), Cochin, seized gold worth ₹14.82 crore at the Trivandrum International Airport.
The seized gold was camouflaged as diplomatic baggage addressed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consulate, which has immunity from security check at airports under the Vienna Convention.
The ED said the consignment was to be received by Sarith, who had worked in the consulate as Public Relations Officer, in complicity with Swapna and others.
