Synopsis: Sivasankar has been implicated by diplomatic channels for his role in smuggling gold.
On Wednesday, the Court of Magistrate dealing with economic offences in Ernakulam denied bail to M Sivasankar, former Kerala Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala.
The Customs had implicated Sivasankar for his alleged role in smuggling gold through diplomatic channels.
At present, Sivasankar is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), facing charges for the gold smuggling case under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act and alleged kickbacks from the LIFE Mission project.
Since October 28, the former bureaucrat has been in the ED’s custody. His bail application is still pending before the Kerala High Court in connection with the ED case.
On account of his relations with some of the accused in the gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh and PR Sarith, Sivasankar’s role in the case came under the scanner.
The customs department as well as the ED were vehemently opposed to his earlier bail application before the Kerala High Court.