Barring the custodial statements of the accused, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has no documents in its hand to prove the involvement of the accused in the money laundering case booked in connection with the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, according to a trial court.
The observation was made by D. Sureshkumar, the First Additional District Judge, while granting bail to the accused, Sandeep Nair and P. S. Sarith, in the case on Wednesday.
Swapna Suresh and M. Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, the other two accused in the case, were granted bail earlier.
The court noted that it was based on the statements of the petitioners, which were given while in custody, that the ED stated that the accused smuggled gold to Indian on 20 occasions. “Apart from this, at present, there are no documents to prove the involvement of the accused in this regard,” the court noted.
Equal role
The court observed that there was no evidence at this stage to state that Sarith and Sandeep were the kingpins in the crime. Records revealed that all accused had equal role in the allegations made against them. As all the accused in the case were alleged to have equal involvement in the crime and two of them already granted bail, the two others cannot be denied the bail, the judge observed.
The investigation in the case was almost over and the custodial interrogation of the accused was not necessary. There are no chances for the petitioners to tamper with the evidence or influence the official witnesses. The chances of them committing similar offences were remote and no purpose would be served in detaining them in prison, especially considering the present COVID -9 pandemic situation, the court noted.
Travel warning
The two were asked to execute a bond for ₹5lakh each with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the court. They were also asked to surrender their passport and not go abroad without the permission of the court.
Though granted bail, the three accused, except Sivasankar, will remain in prison as they have been detained under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act.
