Gold smuggling case: Kerala HC dismisses plea for investigation into alleged role of Chief Minister and others

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition seeking an order to probe the alleged role of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other high-ranking officials in the diplomatic gold smuggling case.

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The court rejected the petition filed by NGO Highrange Rural Development Society (HRDS) Secretary Aji Krishnan. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas observed that the Customs and Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted or is conducting an investigation into the case. The court upheld the defense's argument that the petition could not be sustained.

The court ruled that the petitioner failed to present any evidence to support the claim that the investigation was improperly handled. The court also noted that the investigation by central agencies, the Customs, and the ED is on the right track.

The HC opined that the petitioner has not presented any new evidence to order a re-investigation in the matter decided by the court earlier. The court expressed its satisfaction with the progress report on the investigation provided by the central government regarding the investigation report of the agencies and that there was no reason to fear that high officials would not be investigated if they were found to be guilty during the investigation.

Last week, the ED arrested the alleged mastermind of the gold smuggling scam, KT Ramees. He was earlier arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and was out on bail. He has been sent to judicial custody.