Gold Smuggling : M Sivasankar IAS, For Secretary To CMO, Moves Kerala HC For Pre-Arrest Bail In Customs Case

M Sivasankar IAS, former Principal Secretary to the office of Chief Minister of Kerala, on Monday filed a petition seeking anticipatory bail in the case registered by the Customs in relation to the gold smuggling case.

He is at present admitted for treatment at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. 

The High Court will consider the bail application today at 1.45 PM.

Earlier, the High Court had granted him interim protection from arrest till October 23 in the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to the smuggling of gold via diplomatic cargo sent to UAE Consulate at the state capital.

In the present bail application, the officer has said that the attempt of the Customs is to "sabotage" the interim relief granted by the HC in the ED case.

He stated that both the NIA and Customs have subjected him to over 90 hours of interrogation and yet they could not trace out anything incriminatory against him.

He added that he has been cooperating with the investigation and appeared before the agencies without fail whenever they summoned him.

On October 15, he had appeared before the ED for questioning. On the next date, as the Customs officials were taking him for questioning,  he developed chest pain and was admitted to hospital, said the application.

The application further stated that he was later referred to Medical College Hospital, and has been undergoing treatment there since Saturday for chestpain and lower backache.

The case relates to the seizure of 30 kg of 24 carat gold worth ₹14.82 crore at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5 by the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Kochi, which was sought to be brought through the diplomatic consignment sent to UAE consulate at the State capital.

Sivasankar came under the cloud of suspicion on account of his connections with the prime accused in the gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh and P R Sarith.

After the reports about gold smuggling surfaced in media, the state government suspended him from service last July for alleged violations of conduct rules.