The ED filed this plea back in 2022, stating that a fair trial in Kerala would not be possible due to strong connections between the accused and senior officials in the Kerala government.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has asked four accused individuals to respond to a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is requesting the transfer of the gold smuggling trial from Kerala to Karnataka.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal issued notices on Thursday after listening to submissions by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju, who appeared on behalf of the ED. The court has given the accused six weeks to file their replies. The matter will now be heard again in July after the summer break.
ASG S V Raju informed the court that the ED will include more accused persons in its plea later. Currently, the ED has made Sarith PS, Swapna Prabha Suresh, Sandeep Nair, and Shri M Sivasankar parties to its application.
The Supreme Court has previously asked the Central Government an important question:
“Can diplomatic baggage be scanned in India, or does it enjoy immunity from search?” This question arose during the hearing of this case.
The ED filed this plea back in 2022, stating that a fair trial in Kerala would not be possible due to strong connections between the accused and senior officials in the Kerala government.
The agency has claimed in its petition: “There is a close nexus between the accused and top officials and functionaries of the Kerala government.”
One of the main accused, Swapna Suresh, was previously employed at the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram. She, along with co-accused Sandeep Nair, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Bengaluru on July 11, 2020.
The entire racket was uncovered on July 5, 2020, when gold worth Rs.15 crore was seized from diplomatic baggage at the Thiruvananthapuram airport. Following this, the NIA, ED, and Customs launched separate investigations into the case.
Several individuals have been arrested in connection with the smuggling operation. This includes M Sivasankar, who served as the Principal Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and Sarith PS, another former employee of the UAE Consulate.
The ED’s plea emphasizes that shifting the trial out of Kerala is necessary for justice to be served without local influence.
The Supreme Court will examine the matter further in its upcoming hearings.
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