Kerala HC dismisses the bail petition of Shivasankara

On Wednesday Kerala HC dismissed the anticipatory bail petition filed by former Principal Secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister M Sivasankar, in reference to the cases registered by the Customs and therefore the Enforcement Directorate. Shortly after the court rejected his bail plea, the Enforcement Directorate probing the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case took Sivasankar into custody.Justice Ashok Menon issued the order after examining the materials produced by Enforcement Directorate and Customs against Sivasankar.The ED had informed the court that Sivasankar, was a “conspirator” and key accused while Swapna Suresh, the key accused was only a “pawn”. The central agency told the court that Sivasankar had contacted the customs officers at the Thiruvananthapuram airport multiple times requesting to release the luggage addressed to the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram through the diplomatic channel with none scrutiny or interference.According to the Customs, the bail application wasn’t maintainable. it’s mandatory that under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that an individual seeking the discretionary powers of the court should satisfy within the application for pre-arrest bail that he’s charged with non-bailable offences which he apprehends arrest for that offences.Both these statements were significantly absent within the application. it’s not anywhere stated within the application that the petitioner has been charged with non-bailable offences. This can’t be left to a matter of inference but has got to be stated specifically. Hence, the petition isn’t sustainable. The petitioner has not even disclosed to the court what offences are charged against him, submitted the Customs.

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