The High Court of Kerala denied anticipatory bail to M Siva Sankar IAS, former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala, in the cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate and the Customs department in relation to the Kerala gold smuggling case.
The reasons for dismissal will be know after the detailed order is published. Senior Advocate P Vijayabhanu, appearing for the civil servant, had submitted that his client had been cooperating with the investigation and had subjected himself to over 90 hours of interrogation by the central agencies. Yet, no incriminatory material could be found against him, the senior lawyer submitted in kerala gold smuggling case.
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He said that the central agencies were acting under political pressure to arrest him without any basis.
The ASG had contended in kerala gold smuggling case that there were possibilities that Siva Sankar was the kingpin of the conspiracy and that Swapna was acting as his agent, and that the agency required his custodial interrogation to unearth these aspects.
The case relates to the seizure of 30 kg of 24 carat gold worth ?14.82 crore at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5 by the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi, which was sought to be brought through the diplomatic consignment sent to UAE consulate at the State capital.
