The Kerala High Court on Wednesday granted interim anticipatory bail of a period of two weeks to Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran in a 2021 cheating case involving the controversial fake antique dealer Monson Mavunkal.

A Single Judge Bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A A, while granting the interim anticipatory bail to the leader, directed him to appear before the Investigation Officer on June 23 in compliance with the 41A notice issued to him by the Crime Branch.

The court also directed Sudhakaran to cooperate in the investigation and not make any attempt to intimidate or influence witnesses.

“I am passing an interim order, particularly taking note of the fact that the petitioner is issued with a notice under section 41A of CrPC directing him to appear before the investigation officer on June 23. Accordingly, it is ordered that the petitioner shall appear before the investigation officer in compliance with the notice under section 41 A, and in the event of arrest he shall be released on bail on the execution of a bond of Rs 50,000 in the satisfaction of the investigation officer. The petitioner shall cooperate with the investigation officer and shall not make any attempt to intimidate the witnesses. Interim order shall be imposed for a period of two weeks,” the court said.

During the hearing into the case, Sudhakaran’s counsel drew the attention of the court to recent media reports that revealed that Monson Mavunkal had been forced to name Sudhakaran in a minor’s sexual assault case in which Mavunkal was sentenced to life imprisonment. He also said police threatened him to say that he gave Rs 25 lakh to Sudhakaran. So, this is the state of affairs, Sudhakaran’s counsel submitted

Sudhakaran, in his plea, contended that the case in question was registered in September 2021 and there were no allegations or accusations against him in the FIR. It is pertinent to state that after more than 19 months of registering the crime, the personal appearance of the petitioner is sought for,based on a suspicion that the petitioner is allegedly involved in the crime, the petition said.

The Kerala Congress chief claimed in his plea that prima facie the notice issued to him to be present in person before the Crime Branch “appears to have been for extraneous reasons and political compulsion best known to the police authorities”.

The cheating case against Mavunkal was registered on September 23, 2021, on the complaint of certain persons alleging cheating of Rs 10 crore on the false promise to return the amount. It was also alleged that the accused had deceived the complainants by showing them false statements on his account.

 The Crime Branch, on 10 June 2023, issued a notice to Sudhakaran stating that they had received certain credible information and had ‘reasonable suspicion’ regarding his involvement in the said crime. Its probe team asked Sudhakaran to appear before them on 14 June. However, the petitioner said that he had certain pre-arranged priorities and consultations due to which he was unable to do so.

He claims he had informed the Crime branch of the same vide a letter dated 13 June 2023, and sought another date to appear. Accordingly, he has been instructed to appear on June 23, 2023.