M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, may have to remain in jail for some more time though he got bail in the cases booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Customs on Monday.
Though the Kerala High Court and the Economic Offences Court, Ernakulam, gave him bail in the money-laundering case and the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, he is yet to get bail in the dollar smuggling case booked by the Customs.
Fourth accused
The Customs recorded the arrest of Mr. Sivasankar in the dollar smuggling case on January 21 and arraigned him as the fourth accused. He has been housed at the Ernakulam district jail.
Mr. Sivasankar will move his bail application in the dollar smuggling case on January 27, said S. Rajeev, his counsel. He was incarcerated for nearly 70 days in the ED case before the High Court granted him jail.
In the gold smuggling case, the court noted in its order on Monday that he was entitled to be released on bail as the “Customs failed to file complaint after the conclusion of the investigation within 60 days.”
While granting him bail, Economic Offences Court Judge C. Deepu asked Mr. Sivasankar to execute a bail bond of ₹2 lakh with two solvent sureties for the same amount.
Bail terms
The sureties should produce original title deeds of their properties for verification. Mr. Sivasankar should appear before the investigating officer on all Mondays between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. for three months or until the filing of the complaint whichever is earlier from the date of his actual release from jail, the judge ordered.
The official was also asked to surrender his passport within seven days of his release. The court asked him not to influence or intimidate the witnesses in the case and not to tamper with evidence in any manner.
