The Union law ministry has backed the National Investigation Agency's claim that the smuggling a large amount of gold can be a scheduled offence that threatens the economic security and stability of the country.
The counter-terror agency is now armed with the opinion of the Union law ministry to approach the Supreme Court and appeal against the Kerala High Court order that upheld the bail granted to 12 of the accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case.
The NIA's charge in the Kerala gold smuggling case has become a political hot potato in the poll-bound state and has kept the agency on its toes in the last few days.
The NIA decided to seek legal opinion in the matter after the prosecution felt that the court did not appreciate the arguments of the NIA regarding invoking the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against the accused. The counter-terror agency then approached the law ministry for its opinion and the latter has backed the NIA's charge, sources told THE WEEK.
''It is not 10 grams but several kilograms of gold seized from a diplomatic cargo. This is not a small amount. It is a legitimate case for invoking UAPA as it has serious implications for national security," said a government official.
The NIA's move comes as the Supreme Court is due to examine whether gold smuggling can be termed a "terrorist activity" under UAPA.
On March 8, the apex court was examining a plea against an order given by the Rajasthan High Court in February which refused to quash an FIR registered by NIA in a case where an accused was caught smuggling around 1.5kg gold at Jaipur International Airport last year. The SC ordered both the Centre and NIA be issued a notice in the matter.
In the Jaipur gold smuggling case, the NIA's charge was upheld by the Rajasthan High Court, which refused to quash the FIR against the accused saying the accused, prosecuted under Customs Act for smuggling gold, can also be prosecuted under UAPA, treating it as a terror case. The Rajasthan High Court also said the NIA case is not discriminatory, after which the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.
On July 3 last year, customs department officials seized more than 18kg of gold bars at Jaipur International Airport and arrested ten persons including Aslam, who was allegedly carrying 1.5kg gold and had arrived from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The NIA is planning to use the same case to buttress its claim in the Kerala gold smuggling case, where the quantity of gold smuggled is much more.
Meanwhile, home ministry sources said the Kerala gold smuggling case had been handed over to the NIA after due deliberation by the MHA, which also felt that the organised smuggling operation involving gold invoked the UAPA charge, similar to offences already being probed by the counter-terror agency involving fake currency. Both offences amount to actions aimed at destabilising the country's economy, said an official.
The NIA's stand in court will be crucial as it will not only set a precedent for the future—allowing UAPA to be invoked in cases involving acts of smuggling that threaten the economic stability of the country—but also decide the fate of the accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case. The charges against them under the UAPA form the basis on which the investigations by the NIA began last year.
The NIA has filed a charge sheet against 20 persons so far. It says the accused knowingly conspired since June 2019, raised funds, and smuggled around 167kg of gold from the UAE between November 19 and June 20, through the import of cargo addressed to diplomats at the consular general office of the UAE in Thiruvananthapuram.
