Kerala HC to hear Swapna Sureshs plea on June 21

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday considered the plea of Swapna Suresh, key accused in the gold-smuggling case, seeking to quash an FIR registered against her for allegedly conspiring to cause a riot in the state through her recent disclosures, and said it will be further heard on June 21.

Justice Ziyad Rahman A A , who considered the petition, directed the authorities to submit the FIR and other related documents in the case before the court.

Meanwhile, the counsel of Suresh alleged that she was being subjected to mental suffering owing to the case.

“The matter will be heard on June 21,” the court said. In her plea, Suresh stated that she was falsely implicated in the case and claimed that former minister, K T Jaleel had filed the complaint after she had divulged information about his “illegal activities” before the court.

Suresh also alleged the involvement of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, two of his family members, former minister K T Jaleel, former Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan, former principal secretary to CM, M Sivasankar, and some top bureaucrats “in anti-national activities in UAE Consulate including gold smuggling”.

“This is a clear case of attempt to intimidate the petitioner who is a witness as defined in the Witness Protection Scheme. The attempt of the 2nd respondent (Jaleel) and the police is to prevent the petitioner from disclosing facts about the commission of offence of the 2nd respondent before the Judiciary,” she said.

Suresh claimed that she was “cleverly used by these persons” in collusion with the Consulate General of the UAE Consulate using its diplomatic protection.

Jaleel had recently lodged a complaint with the police, following which a case was registered under Sections 153 (giving provocation with intent to cause a riot) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against Suresh.

Further in her plea seeking to quash the FIR, Suresh said she was subjected to extreme harassment and was under immense pressure while in judicial custody so as to ensure that “she doesnt spill out anything about the involvement of the above persons to the Central Agencies” which were conducting the investigation.

Suresh said she had disclosed the involvement of the above persons to the Customs Department but that statement was “suppressed by the Customs without taking any action or conducting any investigation” about the involvement of those including the Chief Minister.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)