Ernakulam Principles Session Court has posted the bail plea of M Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on November 17. The court had remanded the suspended IAS officer to the Kakkanad District Jail.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, submitted that the money found in Swapna Suresh’s locker was meant as a kickback for Sivasankar. The ASG also said that the agency had initially thought the money was profit from smuggling the gold through diplomatic channels and added that the agency was misled by the accused.
After interrogating Swapna Suresh, the second accused, the ED learnt that the money found in the locker had been intended as a kickback to Sivasankar in the Life Mission project. Meanwhile, appearing for Sivasankar, senior lawyers B Raman Pillai and S Rajeev argued that there was no hard evidence to prove the accusations levied against Sivasankar. They explained that the agency had only imaginary allegations against their client.
The Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kauser Edappagath, after hearing the arguments from both sides, also noted that Sivasankar is given Ayurveda treatment for his back pain.
