More trouble awaits Sivasankar; after ED, Customs, CBI wait in the wings

Kochi: More legal hassles await Kerala bureaucrat M Sivasankar even after he has been booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) over financial dealings linked to the accused in the gold smuggling racket.

Sivasankar, who was Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s principal secretary until he was suspended a few months ago, was arrested by the ED on Wednesday.

Investigating agencies will now probe his role in all other cases in which Swapna Suresh is an accused. Both claim to be friends and it is suspected the bureaucrat aided her shady operations, particularly the smuggling of gold through diplomatic channels and stashing ill-gotten money. In her statements, Swapna had repeatedly claimed that Sivasankar was not aware of the gold smuggling racket.

The slew of cases being probed by multiple Indian agencies over various aspects of the gold smuggling racket are:

• The PMLA case by the ED

• Smuggling of gold and US dollars by the Customs

• Violation of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010 by the CBI, and

• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Barring CBI, the other three central agencies have already questioned Sivasankar.

Bribe angle too

The bureaucrat will land in further trouble if it is confirmed that the money found in Swapna's locker was kickback for the Life Mission housing project in Wadakkanchery.

Handling of Swapna's finances

The investigating agencies have already informed the court that Sivasankar was overseeing Swapna's illegal financial transactions. It has been pointed out that even on the days when the bureaucrat was extremely busy with his official work, Sivasankar found time to interact with the chartered accountant several times regarding Swapna's financial matters.

The investigation agency has found that Sivasankar had accompanied Swapna to the CA's house for handing over suspected black money worth Rs 30 lakh.

However, ED says that Sivasankar had intervened when gold smuggled in the diplomatic baggage was seized at the airport. If that is found to be true, then his intervention will be construed as direct involvement in the gold smuggling case.

Likely role in dollar smuggling

The Customs' department is looking into Sivasankar's possible involvement in the dollar smuggling case. The department found that Khalid Mohammad Ali Shoukri, the head of UAE Consulate's finance division, had carried $1.90 lakh dollars (about Rs 1.34 crore) to Cairo via Muscat on August 7, 2019.

The UAE Consulate in the Kerala capital is at the centre of the gold smuggling row as Swapna and her accomplice, P S Sarith, were its former employees.

According to the report submitted in the court by the Customs, it was Sarith who helped Khalid bypass security checks at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. Besides, Sarith and Swapna had accompanied Khalid up till Muscat.

The report called for detailed investigations into Sivasankar's alleged involvement in the case.

Dollars given at Sivasankar's order

A bank manager in Thiruvananthapuram has given a statement that it was on the instructions of Sivasankar that he exchanged Indian Rupees into US Dollars and handed them over to Swapna. The Customs is probing whether the dollar exchanged by Swapna was taken by Khalid to Cairo. So far the customs has not arraigned Sivasankar as an accused in the dollar smuggling case.

High Court cites Supreme Court verdict on arrest

The Kerala High Court rejected Sivasankar's arguments about his apprehensions regarding arrest, citing the Supreme Court verdict in the 2008 Padam Narain Aggarwal case. The Supreme Court had made it clear if clear evidence is available regarding an offence under the Customs act, the officials have the legal backing for carrying out the arrest.

The apex court also made it clear that it will not be able to intervene in such matters.

Sivasankar was arrested soon after his multiple pleas to the court to stall arrest were turned down.