A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) special court in Kochi on Thursday refused to grant bail to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former principal secretary M Sivasankar who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the probe into the LIFE Mission case.

The ED strongly opposed Sivasankar’s bail plea, arguing that the former bureaucrat has no health problems as the ground on which the accused sought the bail, and granting bail would affect the investigation.

The Central agency argued that the investigation in the case is at a preliminary stage and that Sivasankar is a highly influential person and if he is granted bail, it will affect the investigation.

The ED also pointed out in the court that there are strong statements against Sivasankar to implicate him in the case.

Sivasankar’s counsel said the action taken against the former bureaucrat was wrong, as there is no proof to implicate him in the case.

Accepting the ED’s arguments, the court rejected Sivasankar’s bail plea. Shivasankar is currently in remand in Kakkanad District Jai in Kochi.

Sivasankar moved the court seeking bail citing his deteriorating health.

M Sivasankar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate(ED) in connection with the Wadakkancherry LIFE mission corruption case on 14 February after three consecutive days of questioning.

Wadakkancherry LIFE (Livelihood Inclusion Financial Empowerment)  mission case pertains to the alleged diversion of funds provided by the UAE Red Crescent for the construction of apartments for the poor in the wake of the 2018 Kerala floods.

The UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram and the Kerala LIFE mission entered into an agreement to construct a housing complex at Wadakkancherry using the Red Crescent’s funds in 2019.

It has been alleged that Sivasankar and the UAE Consul General received kickbacks from Unitac builders for awarding the work of construction of the housing complex to them. The alleged corruption came to light after former UAE Consulate employees Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS were arrested by the ED and Customs in the gold smuggling case.