Kerala HC rejects Swapna Suresh's anticipatory bail plea, says offences bailable
Kochi, Jun 9: The Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea moved by Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the sensational gold smuggling in the diplomatic bags case, and co-accused Sarith P S, saying the offences she has been booked for in the conspiracy FIR were bailable and he was not even an accused in the case.
Suresh and Sarith had moved a joint plea seeking protection from arrest in the case lodged by police on the complaint of a ruling LDF MLA'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 fresh 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 against Suresh.
Justice Viju Abraham dismissed the anticipatory bail plea saying the offences were bailable and Sarith was not even an accused in the case.
Meanwhile, State Police Chief Anil Kant has constituted a 12 member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Crime Branch SP S Madhusoodanan and has directed it to expedite the probe in the case and file a report fortnightly.
Besides the Crime Branch SP, the SIT comprises of one ACP, 9 DySPs and one Inspector, officials sources said.
The sources also said that the probe would be conducted under the supervision of Crime Branch ADGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb.
In their joint plea, Suresh said that while the offences were bailable and Sarith was not accused, she believes that CM Vijayan was out to get them in custody to allegedly coerce her into withdrawing her statement made under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Suresh had told the media 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 had 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, 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 Section 164 statement.
The petition claimed that Kiran was introduced to Suresh by 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 said 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 had further claimed.
Hours after the plea was filed in the High Court, Shaji Kiran had come on a TV channel and claimed that Suresh was his friend and he did not pressurise her to withdraw the 164 statement.
Kiran had claimed that he was called to her office by 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 had also categorically denied having been sent there to settle the issue and said even Suresh might not know such things have been stated in her plea.
In the anticipatory bail plea, Suresh has 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 said.
After her revelations before the media, subsequent to recording her Section 164 statement, Vijayan had issued a statement dismissing Suresh's claims and allegations as "baseless".
Suresh, a former employee of the 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 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.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
===================
The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
