KOCHI: Former principal secretary M Sivasankar can hope for his release from jail soon as the customs did not press its objection to his bail plea at the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) Court in the dollar smuggling case on Monday. Sivasankar has got bail in two cases probed by customs and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the gold smuggling case.
When the bail petition was considered by the court, the customs filed an objection petition. On this, the court asked whether it shall post the petition for passing the order if there is no submission. The customs’ counsel agreed to it.
In its objection petition, the customs stated that allegation against Sivasankar is of a serious nature. “His undoubted influence poses a serious danger of intimidation of witnesses, particularly because he is stationed in Thiruvananthapuram,” it said.
However, the counsel representing Sivasankar said some of the observations made by the High Court regarding his health condition while allowing bail to him in the ED case should also be looked into.
The court decided to pronounce its verdict in Sivasankar’s bail petition on Wednesday.