Kerala HC grants bail to 9 accused in attack on ED team after Pinarayi search
The Kerala High Court on Monday granted regular bail to nine people accused of attacking Enforcement Directorate officials after a search at former chief minister
The Kerala High Court on Monday granted regular bail to nine people accused of attacking Enforcement Directorate officials after a search at former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's residence in May this year. The relief was granted even as the ED argued that the incident was a "coordinated and organised assault" and not a spontaneous protest. Justice Kauser Edappagath, while allowing the bail pleas, said the case diary showed that the accusations against the petitioners were very serious and that it "prima facie shows a premeditated criminal act on their part". At the same time, the court noted the stage of the investigation, the absence of serious criminal antecedents and the nature of the injuries before concluding that their continued detention was not required. Read Full Story In its order, the court said: "As rightly argued by the Additional Solicitor General for India, it is a case where the ED officials were attacked while they were discharging their duty. However, the Special Public Prosecutor submits that the investigation is almost over and the recovery has been effected.
None of the applicants (petitioners) have criminal antecedents involving any serious offences. No serious injuries were sustained by the victims. For these reasons, I do not find any reason to hold that the continued detention of the applicants is required for any purpose. Hence, the applicants are entitled to be released on bail." The court also said that as the loss caused to the vehicles used by the ED officials had been assessed at Rs 2.2 lakh, the applicants should be directed to deposit damages as a condition for bail. It ordered that the nine accused be released on bail on each of them executing a bond of Rs 1 lakh with two solvent sureties for the like sum. The other conditions include fully cooperating with the probe, appearing before the investigating officer between 10 am and 11 am every Saturday and whenever required, not entering the jurisdictional limits of Cantonment Police Station in Thiruvananthapuram, and depositing Rs 10,000 each before the jurisdictional magistrate court.
The High Court further directed them not to commit any similar offence while on bail, not to contact, try to influence or intimidate prosecution witnesses by any means, and not to leave the state without the trial court's permission. Opposing the bail pleas, the ED had argued that the May 27 attack on its officials could not be seen as an ordinary law-and-order incident or a spontaneous public protest, as it took place after several hours of search proceedings had concluded. The ED search was linked to financial dealings between Vijayan's daughter T Veena's firm and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL), a sand-mining company. Investigating agencies have alleged that Veena and her firm, Exalogic Solutions, received money from CMRL between 2017 and 2020 for IT and consultancy services that were allegedly never provided. Veena and CMRL have denied any wrongdoing and said the payments were part of a legitimate commercial arrangement. According to the case, a mob attacked the vehicles carrying the ED team as the officials were leaving after the search, allegedly injuring one of the drivers, a CRPF officer and a member of the search team.
The BriefWire