Gold smuggling: Swapna Suresh's anticipatory bail plea adjourned till Tuesday

Kerala HC has no jurisdiction to consider bail plea: Centre in court

swapna-suresh-gold-smuggling Swapna Suresh, a key suspect in the Kerala gold smuggling case | File

The Kerala High Court on Friday adjourned hearing of anticipatory bail application of Swapna Suresh, a key suspect in the gold smuggling case, till Tuesday. Swapna, who is still at large, moved the high court for anticipatory bail via online on Wednesday night.

Counsel Ravi Prakash, who appeared for the Centre, submitted that the high court "cannot entertain bail plea" as the NIA has taken over the probe and hence, the matter has to be dealt with by a special court. Justice Ashok Menon, prime facie, agreed with the submission before adjourning the matter to Tuesday.

The Centre also submitted that this was a case affecting security of the nation and its economic stability. The Central Government Counsel also mentioned that custodial interrogation of Suresh was necessary for the investigation. 

The case pertains to the seizure of gold, weighing over 30kg, from a "diplomatic baggage" that had landed by air cargo at Thiruvananthapuram international Airport recently. The Customs department has said it suspected a smuggling syndicate had misused the name of a person who enjoys diplomatic immunity. 

Swapna, a former employee of the UAE consulate, and who later worked as a consultant in the Space Park project under the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL), is a key accused in the gold smuggling case. The customs department got to know about Swapna’s role when they questioned Sarith, the former PRO at the UAE consulate. The customs department said Swapna forged documents of the UAE consulate to obtain diplomatic immunity to run her gold smuggling operations.

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