Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday delivered a stinging rebuke to Saritha S Nair for seeking a copy of the confidential court statement of Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case.
"How can the court grant access of a confidential statement to an individual unrelated to the case?" the court said in response to her plea.
Saritha, herself an accused in a major political scandal a decade ago, was challenging the Ernakulam Sessions Court order dismissing her plea to get hold of the secret statement filed as per Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
She had earlier approached the lower court for a copy of Swapna's confidential statement. Saritha's counsel had argued that the statement given by Swapna under was a public document and that she was entitled to get a copy as her name was mentioned in the statement. The lower court pointed out that only the investigating agency was entitled to a copy of the statement.
Swapna had filed the statement in the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on June 6 and 7 as part of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) case.
The High Court had sought ED's response to Saritha's petition and appointed an amicus curiae to assist the court to decide the legal question of whether a statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC is a public document.
The sensational gold smuggling case came to the limelight again recently after Swapna gave a secret statement in a court and levelled serious allegations against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his family members, former minister KT Jaleel and some top bureaucrats.