Sivasankar was mastermind of Life Mission black money deal, says ED

KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has informed the High Court that M Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, was the mastermind in the black money case related to Life Mission bribery. This was informed by Additional Solicitor General R Sankaranarayanan who appeared for ED opposing the bail plea filed by Sivasankar. Justice A Badaruddin adjourned the plea as Sivashankar's counsel sought time to reply to the petition. The court will consider the plea on Wednesday.

The single bench said that there are ambiguities in the case. The Life Mission case and the dollar smuggling case were registered as continuations of the gold smuggling case through diplomatic channels. The High Court asked whether these could not be investigated together. Sivasankar's counsel had argued that it was not legal to register multiple cases based on the same facts. The ED explained that all three are separate cases.