Swapna alleges that a close aide of the Chief Minister threatened to arrest her if she did not retract her statement.
Swapna alleges that a close aide of the Chief Minister threatened to arrest her if she did not retract her statement.
Swapna SureshAn accused in the diplomatic gold smuggling case moved the Kerala High Court on Wednesday seeking anticipatory bail, alleging that a person close to the chief minister had arrested him in a case registered against him on a complaint by former minister and MLA KT Jalil. was threatened.
Sarit PS, another accused of gold smuggling, had also sought anticipatory bail in the case.
In his complaint, Mr Jalil alleged that the petitioners along with some others had conspired and Swapna had given false statement before the Magistrate Court under section 164 of CrPC in a case pending before the Ernakulam Principal District Sessions Court. He also alleged that Swapna has tarnished the image of the Chief Minister, the government and Mr. Jalil by spreading false news in the media. He had alleged that he had committed offenses under sections 153 (abetment with intent to cause riot) and 120B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Swapna and Sarith in their petition alleged that “On 08.06.2022 a person named Shaji Kiran came to the petitioners’ office at Palakkad at around 1.30 pm. He is a person whom Mr. Sivashankar had introduced to the petitioner stating that he was close to Pinarayi Vijayan and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. Shaji, who is one of the directors of Gospel for Asia, an organization of KP Yohannan, is the man who is handling the chief minister as well as Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s investments abroad. He informed the petitioners that he had come as per the instructions of Mr. Vijayan to settle the issue raised by the petitioner earlier by making a statement u/s 164 CrPC. He had come to the office in a Toyota vehicle of registration number UP-41R0500. He started pressurizing the petitioners to surrender before the Chief Minister.
The petitioners said, “They informed that earlier a case has already been registered against the petitioner (Swapna Suresh) and if they do not surrender openly saying that they have filed a complaint under Section CrPC at the instance of the present counsel for the petitioner 164, RSS and BJP, then the petitioners will have to face dire consequences that they will have to remain in jail for a long time. He also informed the petitioners that though the case is only against the first petitioner and the offenses registered against them are only They are under section 153 and section 120B of the IPC, they will involve more charges and the second petitioner will also be included as an accused. The police will take both of them into custody and send them to judicial custody.
The petitioners also stated “their demand is that the first petitioner should record an audio/video stating that the facts contained in the statement made under section 164 CrPC are false and they were compelled to do so. The petitioners have been given time till 10. He informed the petitioners that on 09.06.2022 he would be present before the Chief Minister along with the DGP and at that time he would have to first give the statement of the petitioner to the Chief Minister, which is not serious. Consequences followed. will go”.
The Palakkad Vigilance Unit had taken Sarath into custody on June 8 for allegedly interrogating him in connection with the corruption case in the implementation of the Jeevan Mission project, without any notice or revealing his identity. The four vigilance officers only wanted to know what were the forces behind Swapna’s statement under section 164 before the court. Sarit was let off till noon but they confiscated his phone. The petitioners had recorded some part of Shaji Kiran’s conversation.
In the interest of justice it is extremely necessary to see that the petitioners are not arrested illegally and are not detained in the name of interrogation as their intention is only to harass them and give them access under section 164 of CrPC as given by Swapna. To compel the statement to be withdrawn. , said the petitioners.