The Kerala High Court on Thursday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to explain why former Finance Minister Thomas Issac was asked furnish details of his assets at the preliminary stage of a case and directed it not to question him till next Wednesday.
Justice V G Arun raised the question while hearing a petition filed by Issac questioning summons in connection with financial transactions of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Development Board (KIIFB). In the petition he said the ED has sought details about his properties and family members’ assets. He moved the court on Wednesday after the central agency served notices to him twice.
“He has right to privacy and it can only be breached under the procedure established by law. At the first instance, can you ask for all these details? What is the material before you to conclude that all these materials should be produced? To ask someone to produce all private information, this has to be explained,” the court observed.
At this point the ED counsel said the petitioner was not an accused at the moment and it sought details only as a witness. But senior counsel Sidharth Dave appeared for the petitioner said the ED issued summons after summons without clarifying the crime committed by the petitioner. Then the court observed that summons can be issued to even witnesses. After the ED counsel Jaisankar V Nair sought more time to file reply the petition was deferred till Wednesday and the court directed the ED not to question him till then.
{{/usCountry}}At this point the ED counsel said the petitioner was not an accused at the moment and it sought details only as a witness. But senior counsel Sidharth Dave appeared for the petitioner said the ED issued summons after summons without clarifying the crime committed by the petitioner. Then the court observed that summons can be issued to even witnesses. After the ED counsel Jaisankar V Nair sought more time to file reply the petition was deferred till Wednesday and the court directed the ED not to question him till then.
{{/usCountry}}Issac said the ED had isused two summons to him under sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, Income Tax Act and Code of Civil Procedure seeking details of his role in the KIIFB with respect to issuing masala bonds. But the agency has not revealed the nature of violation committed by him. All actions of KIIFB were performed legally and details are available in public domain, he said. KIIFB was constituted by the state government on the lines of a corporate financial institution to mobilize funds for infrastructure development in the state.
Later talking to media Issac, also a left economist, said the latest moves were politically-motivated and aimed at targeting KIIFB. “The central agency is scouting for evidence to pinpoint any wrong doings and sabotage the KIIFB which is changing the face of the state,” he said. Opposition leader V D Satheesan also criticised the ED move to summon him. “We have no idea on what basis he was summoned,” he said.