KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court has dismissed the bail petition of Swapna Suresh, one of the prime accused in the smuggling of gold via the diplomatic channel. The NIA judge P Krishna Kumar while rejecting her bail petition observed that the offence committed by the accused is very serious as it impacts the economic stability of the nation.
The court also ruled out political intervention in the case citing that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Centre demanding an investigation by a national agency.
The court observed that bail was dismissed after going through the Case Dairy and went with NIA's contention that prima facia there was evidence of Swapna's involvement in the case. The court also maintained that the act of the accused will impact the economic stability of the case. There is also evidence that Swapna made attempts to get the consignment containing gold to be released from the Customs after it was seized at the airport. However, the court said the NIA was yet to come up with evidence that Swapna had links with any terrorist organisations.
Swapna Suresh is currently in the custody of Enforcement Directorate probing the money laundering behind the smuggling of gold. In the Customs case, meanwhile, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offence) will also pronounce the verdict in Swapna's bail petition on Wednesday.
Swapna in her bail petition maintained that there is no provision for charging Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against her. She stated that gold smuggling is only a Customs case as there is no provision for the NIA to register the case against her under UAPA. However, NIA submission was that Swapna in her confession statement told the agency that she was aware of gold smuggling to impact the economic stability of the nation.