Setback for Pinarayi govt; Kerala HC quashes FIRs against ED in gold smuggling case
The Kerala High Court said that the Kerala Police should have first taken its complaint to the Special PMLA Court, which has taken cognizance of the ED's final report in the gold smuggling case.
FollowIn a significant setback for the Pinarayi Vijayan government, the Kerala High Court has quashed the two First Information Reports registered against Enforcement Directorate officials by the Kerala Police in the Gold Smuggling case.
The Kerala Police had alleged that some ED officials had coerced gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh to give statements implicating Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the case.
The ED had moved the Kerala High Court seeking the quashing of these FIRs.
In a judgment pronounced on Friday, the High Court ruled that the bar under Section 195(1)(b) of the CrPC was attracted in the case against the FIRs, LiveLaw reported, adding that as per Section 195(1)(b) CrPC, the cognizance of an offence relating to fabrication of evidence in a matter pending before court can be taken only based on a complaint filed by that court.
The high court said that the Kerala Police should have first taken its complaint to the Special PMLA Court, which has taken cognizance of the ED's final report in the gold smuggling case.
The Crime Branch FIR had claimed that last year on August 12 and 13, ED sleuths pressurised Swapna to give false statements against the Kerala chief minister.
Later two women civil police officers, who had been with Swapna when the ED was interrogating her, had also reportedly claimed that they had heard the ED officials forcing her to name Pinarayi Vijayan.
The ED had contended that the Kerala police's actions went against cooperative federalism. The central agency also alleged that the police was hampering its investigations in the gold smuggling case.
The ED further stated that the FIRs had been registered with an oblique motive to put pressure on the Investigating Officers and ensure that the trial is not conducted in a fair and impartial manner because of the involvement of certain highly-placed persons in the case.
