Kerala HC reserves order on ED's plea in gold smuggling case

Kochi (Kerala) [India], July 1 (ANI): Kerala High Court has reserved order on a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging the state government's notification constituting a judicial commission to probe the allegations of falsification of statements to implicate the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Kerala gold smuggling case.
ED sought quashing of the notification before a bench of Justice PB Suresh Kumar.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented ED, noted that the judgment delivered by the Kerala High Court in April 2021 held that Kerala Police had no right to register FIR against ED officials to investigate the allegations of false implication.
"The judicial commission has been constituted to circumvent the judgment. It is only the central government that can constitute a judicial commission in this matter. There is an inherent lack of jurisdiction on the part of the State government," he said.
Mehta said that as per Section 2(a) of the Commission of Inquiries Act, the appropriate government to constitute a commission to deal with matters under List I of the Constitution is the central government.
"Even if the commission gives any findings, the state government cannot do anything as it is a central investigation under the supervision of the court. It is for the competent court under the PMLA to deal with the question of false implication and there cannot be a parallel inquiry by a judicial commission," he said.
Former High Court Judge VK Mohanan was appointed to chair the judicial commission by the state government in May this year. (ANI)