Gold smuggling case: Kerala govt to pay Kapil Sibal 15.5L per appearance

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal will be paid Rs 15.5 lakh by the Kerala government for each court appearance in the Thiruvananthapuram gold smuggling case.

The Law Department of the state government issued an order sanctioning Rs 15,50,000 to be paid for the Supreme Court advocate. In today's market, that amount is worth at least 30 sovereign of gold.

As per the government order, the Advocate General is entitled to draw the amount under the 'payments for professional and special services'.

The probing agency, Enforcement Directorate had petitioned for moving the trial to Bengaluru. Sibal is expected to appear for the state when the court takes up the case again on November 3. The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice UU Lalit will consider the case.

ED had filed a transfer petition in July. The state had raised its objection then and it was the Home Department's additional chief secretary Dr V Venu who appeared in the court on behalf of the government.

Sarith PS, Sandeep Nair and Swapna Suresh are the defendants.

The ED had alleged that the state government was threatening the accused to sabotage the case. The agency had told the SC that M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, also an accused in the case, had influenced the other accused.

The case dating to July 2020 involves the alleged smuggling of gold through diplomatic baggage at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport.