The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday, March 27, served the sixth summons to former finance minister of Kerala Dr Thomas Issac in connection with the ‘masala bonds’ case. The agency asked him to appear before it on Monday, April 1. Thomas Issac is the Lok Sabha candidate for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Pathanamthitta constituency. 

“The ED should not forget that this is Kerala and not north India. The ED is not going to cut my nose if I don’t appear. Anyway, I am approaching the Kerala High Court on Monday," he said. Thomas Issac has been refusing to appear before the court stating that the summons did not clearly mention the allegations against him. He had informed the court that he would be appearing only if the summons set out the allegations against him clearly. 

A total of Rs 2,150 crore was raised through the masala bonds by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) in 2019 when Isaac was the Finance Minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government (2016-21). In February, the ED said Issac was the main person who knows everything about the masala bond case and that was why he must appear. The agency also informed the court that he will not be arrested and the entire questioning will be filmed and will be brought to the court.

A ‘masala bond’ refers to a rupee-denominated bond issued to foreign investors and is settled in US dollars and is subject to the financial regulations of the respective jurisdiction. The first ‘Masala bond’ was issued by the World Bank-backed International Finance Corporation in November 2014 when it raised Rs 1,000 crore to fund long-term infrastructure projects in India.

(With inputs from IANS)