The role of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s ‘Principal Secretary was detected,’ the Enforcement Directorate, which is looking into money laundering accusations in connection with the Kerala gold smuggling case, informed the Supreme Court. When the scandal first broke, ‘the state machinery turned against it and registered false cases by influencing the accused and making attempts to derail the investigation and trial,’ the agency claimed in a rejoinder affidavit submitted to the highest court, ‘even though a letter was sent by the CM of Kerala to the PM’ seeking an investigation. It added that ‘one of the key accused, who was then the Principal Secretary, is continuing in a key high ranking position in the government of Kerala even today’.
The ED has petitioned the SC to move the case’s trial from Kerala to Karnataka. The state refused the motion, claiming that moving the trial would undermine Kerala’s judiciary’s independence. In an affidavit in opposition to the request, the state noted that the scheduled offence related to the scandal is currently being tried in Kerala and that the ED is requesting transfer in the money laundering case, which is a subset of the scheduled offence, ‘with ulterior motive to tarnish the government of Kerala by raising baseless allegations and averments that fair trial is not possible in Kerala’, Additionally, the state asserted that the ED is requesting transfer in the ongoing money laundering investigation, which is an offshoot of the scheduled offence.
According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the declaration made by the accused Swapna Suresh before a magistrate’s court under Section 164 ‘was adequate to provoke widespread rioting throughout the State of Kerala. ‘Due to her statement u/s 164 submitted before the Judicial Magistrate in June 2022,’ the state police had filed two different FIRs against her.
According to the agency, Swapna Suresh recorded her statements under Section 164 on June 7, 2022, before the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Ernakulam, and under PMLA on June 22, 2022. In the aforementioned statement, she made it very obvious that high-profile/politically exposed individuals were involved in the smuggling of gold and other valuables through the UAE Consulate as well as other illegal actions. The affidavit added that she had also spoken about threats made by those connected to the crime to coerce her into changing her story.
‘The high profile accused will influence the accused persons and witnesses and so undermine the fair and independent trial of the case,’ the ED claimed if the trial went forward in the state of Kerala. The ED also said that it was not seeking the transfer on account of any apprehension against the judiciary, but only to uphold the sanctity of fairness in trial.
Post Your Comments