Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ruled out any disciplinary action against his former secretary M Sivasankar who had gone on leave after his association with Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the gold smuggling case, came to light. “If Sivasankar has to be suspended then there should be enough reasons for that. On what grounds can he be suspended now,” the chief minister said during his sunset briefing on Monday.
Nonetheless, the chief minister sounded critical of his former secretary and chief confidante for the first time after the controversy broke out. “He should not have struck a bond with such a female. But he had some links, and just when it came to light he was kept out of my office. That is the only thing that we can do,” Vijayan said.
When he was told that there were reports that it was Sivasankar who had introduced Swapna to people, Vijayan said the government had no knowledge of Sivasankar's wrongdoing other than the fact that he was close to the “controversial woman”. “If there are other complaints against him, it should be proved. A government can take action only on the basis of facts.
He said an enquiry by the chief secretary and the additional chief secretary (finance) have already begun probe into the circumstances that led to the appointment of Swapna Suresh at Space Park. "Let the report come. Action can be taken only if certain charges are proved and not on he bass of anyone's imagination," he said.
No one warned Speaker about Sandeep Nair
The chief minister also defended Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan against whom the opposition has decided to move a no-confidence motion. “The Speaker is not someone who should be dragged into such controversies. They are trying to bring a no-confidence against the Speaker for inaugurating a programme many months ago. At that time, no one knew these people would be involved in such a thing. No controversies had also come up,” he said.
Then, it was pointed to the chief minister that at that point a case was pending in the High Court against Swapna Suresh for forgery. He was also told that Sandeep Nair, another accused in the smuggling case and whose shop the Speaker had inaugurated at Swapna's request, was arrested for smuggling way back in 2014.
The chief minister flatly said that the Speaker himself had said that no agency had warned him of such antecedents.
Swapna, the eternal diplomat
He was asked why the government's probe was not expanded to include in its scope Swapna's presence in prestigious events of the government like the Space Conclave. Perhaps misunderstanding the question to mean Swapna's presence in the programmes related to the UAE Consulate, Vijayan said Swapna was functioning as a representative of a diplomatic mission. "She had attended various government programmes in this capacity. We cannot do anything about this. It is a natural thing. Could anyone have any idea that she would turn out to be such a person," he said.
Fact is, Swapna played host at the Space Conclave when she was working under the IT Department and not in her capacity as a 'diplomat'. Also, at that time, the Crime Branch had implicated her in forgery case.
The chief minister also refused to admit that there was any intelligence failure in the appointment of Swapna. Strangely, his reply yet again suggested that Swapna had diplomatic immunity and it was up to the central agencies to detect her activities.