Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the sensational gold smuggling in the diplomatic bags case, and co-accused Sarith P S on Thursday moved the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the case lodged by police on the complaint of a ruling Left Democratic Front's(LDF) legislator's complaint alleging conspiracy behind her revelations against him, the chief minister, and his family.
In his complaint, Left MLA and former minister K T Jaleel alleged conspiracy behind the latest allegations levelled against him, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family by the key accused in the gold smuggling case.
Police, thereafter, lodged a case under Sections 153 (giving provocation with intent to cause a riot) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) against Swapna Suresh.
The joint plea of Swapna Suresh and Sarith P S states that only the former is an accused in the case and the offences allegedly committed by her are bailable, but she believes that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was allegedly out to get them to coerce her into withdrawing her statement made under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code(CrPC).
Swapna Suresh had told media persons on Wednesday that she only disclosed before the court -- in her statement under Section 164 of CrPC -- the other people allegedly involved in the smuggling cases and their "degrees of involvement".
She said she gave the statement as there were threats to her life and if something happened to her or her family members, she may not have the courage to come forward and speak about the case.
In the plea, Swapna Suresh also alleged that a person named Shaji Kiran came to her office at Palakkad to settle the issue created as a result of her statement.
The petition claims that Shaji Kiran was introduced to Suresh by the former principal secretary to the Chief Minister M Sivasankar in the past as a person very close to the CM and other Left leaders.
It also claims that he pressured Suresh and Sarith to surrender before the CM and to give a statement that what she deposed before court was at the instigation of her lawyers, RSS and BJP.
He also allegedly threatened them with dire consequences if they do not do as he has instructed, the petition further claimed.
Hours after the plea was filed in the High Court, Shaji Kiran came on a television channel and claimed that Swapna Suresh was his friend and he did not pressurise her to withdraw the 164 statement.
Shaji Kiran claimed that he was called to her office by Swapna Suresh on Wednesday and while there he had only asked why she made the revelations now and whether she was aware of the problems she would have to face as a result of the same.
He categorically denied having been sent there to settle the issue and said that even Swapna Suresh might not know such things have been stated in her plea.
In the anticipatory bail plea, Swapna Suresh also contended that her sharing some information with the media about her Section 164 statement given before a court of law will not qualify as a provocation with intent to cause a riot, an offence she is accused of.
She has also said that her 10-year-old son is alone at her residence in Palakkad and therefore, if she is arrested and taken into custody for questioning, there would be no one to look after him.
"So, it is highly necessary in the interest of justice to see that the petitioners are not illegally arrested and taken into custody in the name of questioning as the intention is merely to harass them and coerce them to withdraw the statement given by the 1st petitioner (Suresh) under Section 164 of CrPC," the plea has said.
After her revelations before the media, subsequent to recording her Section 164 statement, Pinarayi Vijayan had issued a statement dismissing Swapna Suresh's claims and allegations as "baseless".
Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the United Arab Emirates(UAE) Consulate here, was taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with another accused Sandeep Nair from Bengaluru on July 11, 2020.
The NIA, Enforcement Directorate (ED), and Customs officials conducted separate probes into the racket that was busted with the seizure of gold worth Rs 15 crore from the diplomatic baggage of the UAE Consulate at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5, 2020.
Several people, including M Sivasankar and another ex-employee of the UAE Consulate here, Sarith, were arrested in connection with the case.
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