Kochi: The Customs Department has opposed the bail plea of bureaucrat M Sivasankar who is in custody over money laundering charges linked to the diplomatic gold smuggling case.
It pointed out that M Sivasankar, who was a senior civil service officer, had committed a serious offence by not informing the government agencies about the illegal activities of foreign consulate officials in India despite having knowledge about them.
The Department made the claim in the Economic Offences Court here while opposing the bail application of the former principal secretary to the Kerala chief minister. The petition will be considered by the court on Tuesday.
The investigation team pointed out that Sivasankar had misused his position as the principal secretary to the chief minister and also his close association with the chief minister to smuggle gold.
The other accused in the case have stated that he played a key role in the gold smuggling conspiracy. He encouraged it despite knowing the seriousness of the crime and its anti-national nature, and did nothing to stop it, the Customs Department said.
If Sivasankar is granted bail, he could try to destroy evidence and influence witnesses. The lives of Swapna Suresh, P S Sarith and Sandeep Nair, who made crucial revelations in the case, will be under threat, the Department said.
Sivasankar is still not cooperating with the investigation, the Customs said.
He withheld the information that he had used more than one phone. It was his wife who produced the other phones when the investigation team demanded them. The team is yet to complete collection of evidence in India and outside.
The Customs also said the Sivasankar has filed the new bail petition by hiding the fact that he had withdrawn an earlier application on November 30.
'ED yet to get nod to prosecute me'
Meanwhile, Sivasankar has approached the Principal Sessions Court in Kochi stating that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) submitted the charge-sheet against him without the official sanction to prosecute him, a senior IAS official.
The ED had submitted the supplementary charge-sheet against Sivasankar on December 24.
The bureaucrat further said that the charge-sheet was incomplete and would not stand scrutiny as it does not have the government sanction.
"Even though I have been suspended from service, I am still a government official. If the charge-sheet submitted by the ED has to stand scrutiny, the sanction to prosecute is required.
“If the charge-sheet is not filed within 60 days of the arrest, the accused is entitled for statutory bail. The ED submitted the charge-sheet to prevent this,” Sivasankar said.
The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court will consider Sivasankar's plea on Tuesday.
