All the copies of Holy Koran that were received from the UAE Consulate shall be returned if the Customs had any objection to the UAE sending it to Kerala for distribution, says Minister for Higher Education and Minority Welfare K.T. Jaleel.
Speaking to The Hindu after being interrogated by the Customs for seven hours on Monday in Kochi, Dr. Jaleel said he asked the Customs officials to communicate their objections, if any, on the distribution of the Holy Koran to the UAE Consulate as well as the UAE government.
“If they have such an opinion that we do not need any support or assistance from the UAE, it should then be communicated to the UAE government,” he said.
Collected back
“Barring the packets of Holy Koran that were taken away by the National Investigation Agency and the Customs, all the packets have been collected and kept safe. The Staff of C-APT, which took a few copies, have also returned them. Once the Customs officials communicate their objection, all the copies shall be duly returned,” he said.
On Act violations
On the question regarding the violation of the provisions of the Customs Act in the distribution of the Holy Koran outside the UAE Consulate, Dr. Jaleel said he suggested that the question be asked to the UAE Consulate General and the Consulate officials who imported the packets. “I did not import any consignment of the Holy Koran and hence was not bound to pay any Customs duty. Also, I am not in a position to answer the question on Customs rules violations,” he said.
Dr. Jaleel said he had informed the Customs that it was their fellow officials who had cleared the import consignment and hence they would be in a better position to answer those questions. The Customs officials said they did not have any case that gold was smuggled along with the packets of the Holy Koran, he said.
Import of dates
The Minister said there were questions regarding the import of dates by the Consulate and its distribution in the State, with which, he said, he did not have any connection. No question regarding the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case was asked, he said.
