Thread by @LiveLawIndia

The Kerala High Court is set to hear the bail application moved by the CM's former Principal Secretary, M. Sivasankar, who had been arrested by ED in connection with money laundering related to the LIFE Mission case.
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The matter is before the Single Judge Bench of Justice A. Badharudeen.
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A Special PMLA Court at Kochi had rejected Sivasankar's bail application on March 2 and extended his custody till March 21. Sivasankar had moved the plea seeking bail on medical grounds. He had alleged the arrest as a 'political stunt'.
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He had further claimed that there was no direct allegation against him.

The report on the bail application moved by Sivasankar can be read here:

livelaw.in/news-updates/k…

The matter has been taken up.
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The Counsel for Sivasankar is briefing the Court on the matter.
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Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta is appearing on behalf of Sivasankar.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta says that Sivasankar's misfortune started when two lockers of Swapna Suresh in Federal Bank and State Bank had been seized.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: Swapna Suresh is a family friend of Sivasankar, no other connection. She was working at the UAE consulate general.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: When 31 of 2020 was first registered, it was supposed to be laundering of money. Then a supplementary complaint was filed against me, for kickbacks in relation to the life mission project.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: UAE based Red Crescent entered into an understanding with the LIFE Mission Project of Kerala Govt. Red crescent was giving money for construction of apartments as part of LIFE Mission Project.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: As part of that, it engaged a contractor which is UNITAC represented by Santhosh Eapen for the project. 300 million was the project value. It was meant to be housing for flood affected victims.
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Court: What was the amount? Is contract outcome of a public tender?
Sr. Adv. Gupta: Contract was between a private individual, not public tender. The allegation was that a possible beneficiary was the petitioner.
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Court: what was the amount of bribe?
Sr. Adv. Gupta informs the amount.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: 25th Jan 2021, the high court had granted him bail in the money laundering case registered by ED.
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Senior Counsel draws attention of Court to Sections 3 and 4 of PML Act.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: There are 2 stages predicate and money laundering.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: In the Indian context, predicate is that which is usually investigated by State government and money laundering by ED. That's why it has led to a serious problem since in certain cases it is felt that it is used by Central govt to attack persons in certain States.

Sr. Adv. Gupta: But let's leave that aside for now.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: Underlying offense was gold smuggling in which I'm not involved. There is a VCB FIR and also a CBI investigation of whether FCRA applies.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: Both are now the subject matter of money laundering offence. We are not an accused in the FCRA Matter. And FCRA is also not an offence in Schedule of PMLA.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: The allegation is that the money found in Swapna Suresh's locker was meant as bribe for red crescent to give the contract to Santhosh Eapen.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta refers to Section 45 of the PMLA, on conditions to grant bail.
Sr. Adv. Gupta: The Court has the discretion to grant bail if the proviso to S 45 is satisfied.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: The clauses in this section are disjunctive. and that is how your lordships read the provision last time and granted us bail. The clause of sick and infirm, and the amount involved is being less than 1 crore applies to the petitioner.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: We had secured bail in the first case. It is the same allegation now. There is no link between Swapna Suresh's account and the petitioner. It is the same facts that have been rehashed to file a new FIR.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: Second FIR is defective so bail should be granted that's number one. Number 2 is that I've already been given bail on medical grounds. That cannot be ignored.
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Court asks if there has been any change of circumstances from earlier.
Sr. Adv. Gupta: No change of circumstances. Reports submitted itself shows that health has deteriorated.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: As per reports, health has gotten so much worse and now surgery is required for his health issues.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: He has now been in custody for 36 days.
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The Senior Counsel also submits that Section 45(1)(ii) is also satisfied, as the link established is flimsy.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: I want to show that the two complaints are based on identical facts. Second thing is I want to show your Lordships the latest medical position.
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Senior Counsel draws the attention of the Court to the decision in TT Antony v. State of Kerala [(2001) 6 SCC 181]
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Sr. Adv. Gupta brings the attention of the Court to another decision, which has LiveLaw citation. The Senior Counsel, although expressed that he did not have another citation to give, added that that LiveLaw, which is a web journal, is a very useful publication.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta is now taking the Court through NIA chargesheet.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta says that the two sets of facts are exactly identical.
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The Bench rises for lunch. Hearing shall continue at 1.45 PM.
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The hearing continues.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta is continuing his submissions.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta briefs the Court about the current medical condition of Sivasankar, and reads out the opinion of the Medical Board regarding the same.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: On 23rd they said hospitalization was required, but ED was not satisfied. After that Court directed. Again on 25th, it was again said that he requires hospitalization.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: I would like to point out one or two documents which shows how flimsy the allegation is. It is alleged that I was to receive a part of money Eapen gave to Swapna Suresh. But Eapen has consistently denied this.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: Only I have been picked up. The persons who had been directly involved in this LIFE Mission were not picked up.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta: Swapna Suresh from whom money was actually recovered is trying to involve me saying Santhosh Eapen said a part of money would go to me. But Eapen has no such case, my Lord.
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Sr. Adv. Gupta concludes his arguments.
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The Standing Counsel for ED Advocate Jaishankar sought an adjournment to a later date since the Additional Solicitor General is engaged in another matter.
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The matter has been posted to March 27, 2023 for further hearing. Hearing concludes for the day.
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