The Economic Offences Court, Ernakulam, will pronounce its order on the bail application of M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in the US dollar smuggling case on Wednesday.
Opposing the bail plea, the counsel for the Customs contended that Sivasankar’s influence posed the danger of intimidation of witnesses, as he was stationed at Thiruvananthapuram. The dubious conduct of the petitioner extended beyond the borders of the country, where too he appeared to command tremendous influence, the agency said.
The Customs argued that the claim of the petitioner that he was fully cooperating with the investigation was not entirely true, as he had made attempts to escape questioning.
The investigation was not complete and some more time might be required to unearth the complicity of the petitioner in the case. Various details regarding the US Dollar dealings linked to the petitioner also had to be unearthed, the counsel said.
The bail plea, it was submitted, was entirely unsustainable both in law and facts, and the petitioner was not entitled to the discretionary relief from the court. Though the Kerala High Court had recently held that the accused was entitled for statutory bail in another case in which the investigation was conducted by another agency, it cannot be said that the petitioner was not guilty, it was submitted.
The allegations against the petitioner were of very serious nature. His conduct, if proved, would undoubtedly injure the economy of the country, harm the interests of the State, and amount to misusing a privileged and pivotal position in the State government, it was argued.
