Gold smuggling: Agencies face hurdle imposing Cofeposa on Keral CM's ex-secretary, top Delhi jeweller

NEW DELHI: Kerala CM’s ex-principal secretary M Sivasankar and a leading jeweller from Delhi, both accused in separate gold smuggling cases, have for now escaped the stringent Cofeposa Act, under which there is no trial or bail for one year, while nine of their alleged accomplices have been arrested and are facing confiscation of all their assets.


Arrested under Cofeposa (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act), an accused is detained for one year without trial. Completion of one year in jail allows central agencies to confiscate assets of the accused, his relatives and

associates

.

Six persons, including Swapna Suresh, a former close aide of suspended IAS officer Sivasankar, were arrested under Cofeposa in the Kerala-UAE gold smuggling racket in

October last year

while Sivasankar himself escaped the stringent act due to ongoing court hearings on his bail.

On Friday, the SC deferred a decision on the cancellation of his bail granted by the Kerala high court for six weeks.

In the case of a leading Delhi jeweller, who’s the prime accused in alleged smuggling of 1,000 kg of gold, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had arrested three of his associates last year but could not arrest him owing to a previous restraint order he had obtained from the Supreme Court in some other case, sources said.

A few bureaucrats and politicians are also under the scanner in the case.

Swapna Suresh has in her statement recorded before the customs department and the ED claimed her closeness with the Kerala CM’s ex-principal secretary.

On Friday, the customs department in an affidavit to the Kerala high court said that Suresh in her recorded statements has claimed her close association with the Kerala CM and his principal secretary.

Earlier, in her statement before the ED, she had shared details of her WhatsApp chats and conversation with Sivasankar and about alleged bribes received from government contractors.

In the pandemic year, the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), the nodal agency for Cofeposa, has issued more than 24 Cofeposa orders.

In 2019-20, the agency had issued 76 Cofeposa orders, the highest in the last seven years.

The Cofeposa orders are issued in extraordinary cases, only as a last resort where the country’s security is affected.

The government has designated a joint secretary-level officer in the CEIB to strictly review the proposals from Customs, DRI and ED and issue such orders.

The states are also empowered to issue detention orders under Cofeposa, but only by a designated officer not below the rank of secretary.

Once arrested under Cofeposa, the accused is completely immobilized with all his operations frozen and bank accounts attached.

During 2018-19, the CEIB had issued 51 detention orders under the act. This was the highest till then.

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