Kerala Speaker and customs face off in gold smuggling case

The Opposition Congress and legal experts have criticised the Speaker’s move as an attempt to scuttle the on-going probe into the gold smuggling case.

Kerala Assembly speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and the customs department are headed for a face-off in the gold smuggling case after the former’s office rushed a letter to the customs saying it has to take permission of the Speaker before summoning his staff for questioning in the case.

Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan is at loggerheads with the customs department in the gold smuggling case. (Courtesy-Facebook)

Customs had summoned Speaker’s additional personal secretary, K Ayyappan, to appear before the agency three days back but he did not. The Assembly secretary then sent a letter to the customs saying it has to take permission of the Speaker before summoning Assembly staff, because like law-makers, they also enjoy certain privileges.

The Opposition Congress and legal experts have criticised the Speaker’s move as an attempt to scuttle the on-going probe into gold smuggling.

The Speaker has defended his stance and argued that the legislature secretariat has not blocked any investigation into the smuggling case but it wanted all rules to be followed.

“The legislature secretariat has reminded the agency about the house rules. Staff of the assembly also enjoys certain privileges under Rule 165,” he said.

However, a senior customs official said the agency had sought legal opinion on the matter and that the Assembly staff wasn’t entitled to any privilege outside the house. He added that a fresh notice will be issued to the additional personal secretary.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress has filed a notice to remove the Speaker in the wake of the allegations against him ahead of the budget session of the assembly, starting Friday. After the gold smuggling case surfaced, the Speaker was accused of close relationship with the main accused Swapna Suresh. He later admitted that he knew Suresh as an employee of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consulate and attended some functions on her invitation.

But Congress and BJP leaders allege that it was more than an ‘official relationship’ and that Sreeramakrishnan had travelled with Suresh several times to West Asian countries.

They also allege the accused smuggled US dollars to the Gulf countries using Sreeramakrishnan’s green channel access. They also alleged that a major portion of the smuggled US dollar was commission obtained from various projects. The Speaker has denied these allegations and said he was ready for any probe.

“He is misusing rules and privileges to save his face,” said Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. There is a strong likelihood that the Speaker will be summoned by the investigating agencies after the budget session.

When the customs busted the gold smuggling racket in July, Suresh was working as a consultant with the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited. Before this, she worked at the UAE consulate at the state capital as its public relations officer. After the gold smuggling case surfaced, her degree was also found to be a fake.

Last month Suresh told a court in Kochi that her life was in danger and sought special protection for herself and her family members. She said she was under pressure not to take big names and some people met her in the jail a couple of times to pressurise her. Later, the court directed the prisons department to provide her adequate security. Detained under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (Cofeposa), Swapna is lodged in the women’s jail in Thiruvananthapuram.