On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to stay the judgment of the Kerala High Court granting bail to M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to Kerala Chief Minister, in the gold smuggling case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a petition challenging the High Court bail. A bench led by Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy refused the petition, while giving notice, reports Live Law.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju had submitted for the ED that bail was granted to Sivasankar, despite there being 'prima facie reasons' to believe that he was involved in the case. He said that the HC had erred in granting bail and referred section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Justice Bhushan asked about the accused being sick and the money involved amounting to less than Rs 1 crore, after the ASG claimed that Sivasankar was faking sickness and the amount was more than that.
When the ASG further accused Sivasankar of speaking to Customs officers to release the gold consignment back in July 2020, senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the latter, pointed out that in the ED's own affidavit in High Court, they refuted this.
Justice Bhushan said that the Supreme Court is issuing notice but not putting Sivasankar in jail. When the ASG requested to stay the judgment (on bail), Justice Bhushan said, "No, no, he is already out."
The matter will be heard after six weeks.
Sivasankar was granted bail on January 25 after being in custody since October 28, 2020. The Kerala High Court had at the time taken into account the ailments of Sivasankar, and observed that the case was an exemption from the 'rigours of Section 45'.
The court also observed that Sivasankar has been in custody since October 28 and went through several rounds of interrogation, including custodial interrogation.
However, while ordering the bail, the court had also noted that “there are no reasonable grounds to believe that he is not guilty”.
"However, it should also be considered whether there is a likelihood of the applicant committing any offence while on bail. I am afraid that the prosecution has not been able to establish this fact," the Court said.