K Iyyappan, assistant secretary to Speaker of Kerala Legislative Assembly P Sreeramakrishnan, is being questioned by the Customs Department at Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
Though Sreeramakrishnan tried all ‘weapons’ in his armoury to prevent the Customs officials from summoning his assistant secretary, the legal advisors of the department told the former ‘point blank’ that there were no provisions in the rule book which made Iyyappan above the law.
Sreeramakrishnan’s contention was that any staff members of the Speaker’s office could be questioned by the agency only with his permission.
“We told the Speaker that even he could be summoned for questioning,” said a senior Customs official. The assistant secretary is being grilled by the Customs in connection with the hawala transactions in which Sreeramakrishnan is alleged to have played a major role.
The Customs Department has zeroed in on charges of US Dollars worth crores of Indian rupees were illegally sent from Thiruvananthapuram to a West Asian nation with the concurrence of the UAE Consulate in the capital city.
The Customs Department hit upon the hawala deal while probing the gold smuggling scam which was busted by it in last July. Swapna Suresh, Sarath and Sandeep Nair who were arrested by the NIA in connection with the gold smuggling are believed to have spilled the beans about the role of “persons in higher places” in the scam.
Ramesh Chennithala, leader of the opposition and K Surendran, BJP Kerala chief said that there were enough evidences linking Sreeramakrishnan with Swapna Suresh, the kingpin in gold scam. Though the Speaker denied the reports as mere allegations, the details of the telephonic calls between him and Swapna and the videos featuring the duo demolished his alibis.
Once Iyyappan’s questioning is completed, the Customs will summon Sreeramakrishnan himself for grilling, making him the first Speaker of the Legislative assembly to be questioned by a central agency on charges of smuggling and hawala.
The CPI(M) leadership in Kerala has told the Speaker to delay his appearance before the Customs till the assembly session which commenced on Friday concludes after the passing of the State Budget 2021-22.
