KOCHI: The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) Court on Wednesday lambasted the customs while granting it five-day custody of former principal secretary M Sivasankar in the case related to smuggling of gold through the diplomatic channel. The court criticised the customs for not mentioning how Sivasankar abetted gold smuggling and for not even giving his designation in the petition seeking custody.
According to the court, the modus operandi and how Sivasankar used his official powers to abet the crime need to be investigated. However, it expressed its dissatisfaction over filing the custody application without mentioning the exact reason for seeking Sivasankar in custody.
The court observed that the application did not specify the profile of the accused person and expressed concern over omitting the designation of the former principal secretary and even asked the customs if they were scared to mention it.
Similarly, Swapna Suresh and Sarith P S choosing Sivasankar for using his influence and the nature of his alleged nexus with the other accused are also not disclosed in the application, the court observed. While hearing the petition, the court asked the customs prosecutor: “What prompted you to record his arrest in the eleventh hour?”
The court later decided to sent Sivasankar in the customs custody as thorough investigation is required about his role in the case. “As stated earlier, the offence alleged is of serious nature, since the smuggling through the diplomatic channel is unheard of. A detailed probe is required to find out all stakeholders of the deal,” the court observed.
The court also noted the customs’ claim that it had seized Sivasankar’s phone and it was sent to C-DAC for analysis. The report of C-DAC was obtained and WhatsApp chats and other details were extracted.