The Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed the functioning of the Justice V.K. Mohan Commission appointed by the State government to investigate whether there were any conspiracy or deliberate attempts to implicate Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other senior functionaries in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case.
The interim order was passed by Justice P. B. Sureshkumar on a writ petition filed by P. Radhakrishnan, deputy director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The ED wanted the commission to be restrained from exercising any powers by invoking the provisions of the Commission of Enquiries Act. The court noted that the question of conspiracy was to be examined by the Special Court supervising the investigation.
The court held that parallel investigations and inquiries conducted would impede and derail the investigation and would ultimately go to the benefit of the accused, defeating the objective of the legislation under which the accused were booked.
The court noted that the inquiry was ordered into the question whether the contents of a voice clip and a letter stated to have been issued by the accused persons in a gold smuggling case investigated by various central agencies, including the ED, would reveal any conspiracy to falsely implicate the leaders of the political front in Kerala.
Oblique motive
The ED argued that the notification appointing the commission was issued with the oblique motive to put pressure on the investigation officers and to derail the probe into money laundering committed by highly influential persons in the State.
The notification was also issued to ensure that the trial was not conducted in a fair and impartial manner because certain highly placed persons were involved in the case, argued Solicitor General Thushar Mehta.
Additional Solicitor General P. Vijayakumar and
Special Public Prosecutor T. A. Unnikrishnan appeared for the agency.
The notification appointing the commission suffered from malice, both in fact and law. It was also issued to obfuscate and derail and impede the ongoing investigation against the executive functionaries who had issued the notification, the agency argued.
