Supreme Court Issues Notices to Accused in Gold Smuggling Case

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to four accused on a plea of the Enforcement Directorate seeking transfer of the trial in the gold smuggling case from Kerala to Karnataka. The bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal noted the submissions of Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the anti-money laundering probe agency, and sought responses of the accused within six weeks. The law officer said the Central Probe Agency will have to make other remaining accused parties to the petition. Currently, the Enforcement Directorate has made Sarith PS, Swapna Prabha Suresh, Sandeep Nair, and Shri M Sivasankar as parties to its plea. The top court had earlier sought to know from the centre whether diplomatic baggage can be subjected to scanning in India or they enjoy immunity from search. It is hearing the plea of the ED filed in 2022, which sought the transfer of the trial in the gold smuggling case from Kerala to Karnataka claiming that a 'free and fair trial' of the case is not possible in the state. The ED has alleged in its plea that there is a close nexus between the accused and top officials and functionaries of the Kerala government. A key accused in the case, Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency along with another accused Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru on July 11, 2020. The NIA, Enforcement Directorate, and Customs conducted separate investigations into the racket that was busted with the seizure of gold worth ₹15 crore from the diplomatic baggage of the UAE consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5, 2020. Several people, including M Sivasankar, a former Principal Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and another ex-employee of the UAE consulate Sarith P S were arrested in connection with the case. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.