Life Mission Case: SC to examine bail plea of former principal secretary M Sivasankar on July 12

It is alleged that Sivasankar violated the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act in the Life Mission project. The ED has arrested only Sivasankar and Unitac Builders MD Santhosh Eapen in the case.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Supreme Court will consider the bail plea of former principal secretary M Sivasankar on July 12 who has been in jail for over five months in connection with the Life Mission money laundering case. Sivasankar's petition seeking interim bail on grounds of ill health is pending before the Kerala High Court.  Sivasankar was detained after being apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate on February 14 in connection with the Life Mission money laundering case. Sivasankar was placed in judicial custody on February 24, 2023, until March 8, 2023. The remand was later extended, and Sivasankar has since been held in judicial custody.

The case involves the misappropriation of Rs 4.5 crore of the Rs 19 crore that the UAE-based NGO Red Crescent offered to build a housing complex for flood victims.

In February, Sivasankar made his first bail application before the Special PMLA Court in Kochi. However, on March 2, his appeal was denied and his custody was extended until March 21, 2023. On April 13, 2023, the High Court denied the bail plea as well. The Apex Court then allowed him the freedom to approach the special court to get interim bail in case of any type of medical emergency in the Special Leave Petition that he had filed. The Special Court, however, rejected his plea because he had not proven that there was an urgency that warranted his release on bail.

The ED in April filed the chargesheet in a special court in Kochi. The chargesheet also names Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the high-profile gold smuggling case, as the second accused. According to the findings of ED, M Sivasankar is the mastermind behind Life Mission's black money transactions. It is alleged that Sivasankar violated the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act in the Life Mission project. The ED has arrested only Sivasankar and Unitac Builders MD Santhosh Eapen in the case.

A home project in Wadakkanchery, Thrissur, was funded by the UAE-based charitable organization Red Crescent as part of the Life Mission Project. The Enforcement Directorate discovered that the aid contained FCRA violations and that Eappen had reportedly paid middlemen—including allegedly state lawmakers and government officials—a payment of Rs 4.5 crore in order to have his company selected for the construction project.