The former Principal Secretary M Sivasankar,to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has moved to the Kerala High Court for seeking bail in a money laundering case that has been registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the LIFE Mission housing project of the Kerala government.
The bail plea by Sivasankar’s bail will be heard by Justice Kauser Edappagath tomorrow.
The LIFE (Livelihood, Inclusion and Financial Empowerment) Mission is a housing security scheme of the Kerala government that aims to provide houses to all the landless and homeless residents of the State.
The current case in question involves one specific project which is said to have been funded by a foreign entity in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The issue is also being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In the year 2020, the LIFE Mission project ran into trouble after Anil Akkara, the then MLA for Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district filed a complaint stating that it violated FCRA norms. His specific complaint was against the project in his constituency of Wadakkanchery.
The State government for the purpose of project had agreed to allot land to building contractors chosen by the donors. The project at Wadakkanchery was funded by the UAE consulate’s Red Crescent.
Anil Akkara said that funds for Unitac builders (which was chosen as contractor) from Red Crescent, were obtained by the Kerala government thereby, violating the FCRA.
CBI filed an FIR pursuant to the complaint, naming Unitac’s Santhosh Eappen, Sane Ventures (another contractor), and unnamed officials of the LIFE Mission project.
There were charges that the LIFE Mission project was awarded to Eappen and Sane venture at the behest of former UAE Consulate employee and gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh working with Sivasankar, who was then the principal secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Office.
On the 14th February , Sivasankar was arrested and has been in custody since then. On March 2, the bail plea by him was rejected by a Special Court for trying offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) prompting the present plea before the High Court.
In this bail plea, Sivasankar submitted that the ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) says that several persons, among whom are some government officials, received pecuniary advantages and illegal gratification out of the funds received from UAE Red Crescent meant for flood victims in Kerala through the LIFE Mission project.
The plea alleges ED on several points,highlighting some medical issues Sivasankar is facing in order to make the case for his release on bail.
Sivasankar categorically stated that he is a well qualified retired public servant who is completely innocent of all the allegations and that his arrest is nothing but a political stunt.
The bail plea states that the action of arrest is a political stunt and is aimed at targeting the earlier existed professional privity the petitioner had with he Honorable Chief Minister of Kerala and the entire case is built up as a political hit job by the Enforcement Directorate to falsely implicate the petitioner.
The LIFE Mission case and the 2020 Kerala gold smuggling case, which involve alleged smuggling of several kilograms of gold from UAE to India through diplomatic channels, have certain common players including Sivasankar, Swapna Suresh, and Sarith PS.
The allegations of Sivasankar’s involvement in the LIFE Mission scam also came about during the initial stages of the investigation into the gold smuggling case.
Sivansankar was arrested in late 2020 in connection with the gold smuggling case of the ED as well as the Customs Department. After he was granted default bail in the Customs case on January 25, 2021, the Kerala High Court granted him bail in the ED case.