Thomas Isaac receives ED notice again; must report on 12th

KOCHI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) sends notice to former finance minister Dr TM Thomas Isaac again in KIIFB masala bond case. Thomas Isaac should appear at the Kochi office for questioning on the 12th of this month. The ED is investigating whether there is any violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in the issuance of masala bonds.

The High Court single bench had earlier stayed the sending of notices through an interim order. The injunction was on a petition filed by Thomas Isaac against the proposed production of personal information. However, another single bench of the court later ordered that there was no problem in continuing the inquiry and that a fresh notice can be issued. Isaac and senior KIIFB officials appealed to the Division Bench against the order to re-send the notice.

The Division Bench pointed out the point of law that another Single Bench cannot pass an order to the contrary if an interim order of a Single Bench is upheld. The judgment of the second single bench was cancelled. The action was in last December. Although the division bench did not go into the merits of the case, the ED said it was withdrawing the summons. With this, there was an impression that the case was frozen but now a new notice has been sent. ED sources explained that the re-summoning was based on legal advice.