KOCHI: In a rare development, the Union government has ordered compulsory retirement of P Radhakrishnan, Deputy Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and a former investigation officer in the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case.
The order was issued citing allegations of bribery, leakage of sensitive operational details, and dereliction of duty. The action follows an internal inquiry by the Union Finance Ministry, which reportedly found merit in intelligence reports suggesting that Radhakrishnan had compromised investigations. The government invoked Fundamental Rule 56(j) along with the relevant Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules to issue the order.
Centre can take such a move in public interest
These provisions empower the government to compulsorily retire employees in the public interest on grounds such as lack of integrity.
The officer was also involved in the investigation of the dollar smuggling case and the KIIFB Masala Bonds case.
During the probe into the gold smuggling case, which put the LDF government in the state on the defensive, allegations emerged that the accused persons had been pressured to implicate the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
On November 18, 2020, an audio clip, purportedly featuring Swapna Suresh, a key accused, was aired by an online media outlet. In the clip, she alleged ED officials had made her sign statements under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act without allowing her to read the content, and that she had been compelled to implicate the CM.
On November 20, 2020, the Deputy Director of the ED wrote to the Director General of Prisons and Correctional Services seeking a detailed inquiry into the circumstances under which the alleged audio recording was made and requesting appropriate action against those responsible. The Director General of Prisons forwarded the letter to the State Police Chief, who subsequently directed the constitution of an SIT to conduct a preliminary inquiry.
During the inquiry, two women police constables, who were assigned protection duty to Swapna while she was being questioned by ED officials, stated that on August 12 and 13, 2020, they had overheard ED officials coercing and cajoling the accused to give statements implicating the CM and others.
Based on these statements, the police registered an FIR. Swapna later revealed that she had been coerced into making the statements reflected in the audio recording. In 2021, Radhakrishnan independently approached the High Court seeking to quash the FIR. The court subsequently quashed the FIR and directed the Crime Branch to submit all records pertaining to the case before the Special Court in a sealed cover.
Later, Radhakrishnan was first transferred to Chennai and subsequently to Kashmir.