Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed the bail plea filed by former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar in the case related to alleged corruption in the LIFE Mission project.

Justice A Badharudeen passed the order.

A special PMLA court had rejected Sivasankar's bail application on March 2 and extended his custody till March 21. The money laundering case emanates out of alleged illegal gratification obtained for awarding the contract work for the LIFE Mission's project for building 140 housing units in Thrissur district utilising the funds donated by UAE Red Crescent. Sivasankar has been under custody since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on February 14.

Sivasankar had moved the High Court for bail alleging the arrest to be a "political stunt" and claiming that there was no direct allegation against him. He termed the entire case as a "political hit job by the Enforcement Directorate" using the professional privity he had with the Chief Minister of Kerala.

It was contended that the offence registered by the CBI over corruption allegations did not even name the petitioner as an accused. He also challenged the approach taken by the Special Court to rely upon documents furnished by the ED in three sets of sealed covers.

Opposing the plea, Additional Solicitor General R Sankaranarayanan argued that Sivasankar is the kingpin who orchestrated the money laundering and bribery since the very beginning, and that he could impede the investigation if released on bail.

Sivasankar is also an accused in another money laundering case registered over the smuggling of gold through diplomatic channels in the Thiruvananthapuram airport. In that case, he had underwent custody for nearly three months till the High Court granted him bail in January 2021.

(With inputs from LiveLaw.)