Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, who is appearing for the Kerala government in the gold smuggling case, is being paid Rs 15.5 lakh as fee for every appearance at the Supreme Court.

The state Law Secretary V Hari Nair the other day issued an order to hand over Rs 15.5 lakh to Sibal, who appeared in the Supreme Court on  10 October  during the arguments  in the transfer petition filed by the ED seeking to transfer the trial of the case to Bengaluru.

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The State Law Secretary issued the order for payment of fees under Section 42(1) of the KGLO Act, 1978. The Law secretary issued the order (G.O.(Rt)No.1138/2022/LAW)) on 19.10.2022. “Sanction is accorded for the payment of Rs.15,50,000/- (Rupees Fifteen Lakh and Fifty Thousand only) to Sri. Kapil Sibal, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court towards fee for the appearance in T.P. (Crl.)No.449/2022 – Enforcement Directorate Vs. Sarith P.S & Ors. before the Hon’ble Supreme Court on 10.10.2022 by invoking the second proviso to Rule 42 (1) of KGLO Rules, 1978,” reads the order.

The order directed the Advocate General to take further steps to transfer this amount to Sibal.

The ED moved the Supreme Court in July seeking transfer of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case filed in connection with gold smuggling to a special court in Karnataka. It said senior officers of the agency were hounded by the state machinery and since influential people were involved there were attempts to thwart investigation.

The ED, in its plea to transfer the trial in the case from Kerala to Bangaluru in Karnataka, has listed out a number of alleged incidents to back its contention that the Kerala government and police have interfered with the investigation and tried to influence witnesses.

“If the trial is continued in the state, the highly influential accused persons will create hurdles and also the co-accused would be pressurised and threatened to make false allegations and to make false evidence thereby derail the ongoing investigation and trial,” ED’s petition had stated.

The Kerala government on 1 October had approached SC against the ED’s transfer petition. Opposing the contentions in the ED’s petition, Kerala government in its plea said that transfer of the case will inevitably reflect on the credibility of the Judiciary of Kerala.

There has not been a single incident in which investigating officers of ED were prevented from discharging their duties, the petition says.

A bench headed Chief Justice UU Lalit on 10 October allowed the application filed by the government of Kerala seeking impleadment in the matter

The case is currently being tried by the special PMLA court at Ernakulam.

The gold smuggling case, which surfaced in July 2020, has witnessed many twists and turns in last two years. The case originated after 30 kg of gold worth Rs.15 crore seized from a baggage to the United Arab Emirates consulate in the state capital by the Customs.

The case took a dramatic turn in June after Swapna Suresh gave a confidential statement under sec 164 before a magistrate court in Ernakulam in which she alleged “the chief minister knew about everything and heavy biryani pots were taken to his house from the UAE consulate several times”.

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice UU Lalit will hear the case on 3 November.