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CPI(M) leader’s plea seeking sanction to file a criminal contempt of court petition before Kerala High Court against Sumit Kumar
A petition has been filed before the Advocate General seeking sanction to file a criminal contempt of court petition before the Kerala High Court against Sumit Kumar, Customs Commissioner (Preventive), Kochi, for filing a statement in connection with a dollar smuggling case.
Advocate General K. Sudhakara Prasad has issued notice to the Customs Commissioner on the petition filed by K.J. Jacob, CPI(M) leader and former Opposition leader in the Kochi Corporation. The Commissioner had said in his statement that Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, had stated that the smuggling of foreign currency was carried out at the instance of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Assembly Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan.
According to Mr. Jacob, the Customs Commissioner was not a respondent in the petition filed by the State government challenging certain observations in the Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offences) Court order providing security to Swapna inside the prison. The statement of Swapna recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) was not relevant for the consideration of the petition filed by the government.
‘Political masters’
He said it was settled law that a copy of the statements recorded under Section 164 of the Cr.PC could be given only to and used by the investigation officer. Besides, the contents of such statements should not be passed on to anybody or made public. In fact, the Customs Commissioner was not an investigation officer in the gold smuggling case in which the alleged statement of Swapna Suresh was recorded. Nor was he a party to the government’s petition. The Customs Commissioner had filed it under the dictates of the ruling dispensation at the Centre and his attempt was only to convert the High Court into a political arena to please his political masters, the petition said. His action was nothing but interference with the due course of the judicial proceedings pending in the High Court. The malicious and improper use of legal proceedings to further political causes was an abuse of process of the court, it added.
The petitioner sought sanction of the Advocate General to move before the High Court to prosecute the Customs Commissioner under Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971.
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