KOCHI: The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court denied bail to M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to the chief minister. The court rejected his bail plea after considering the arguments of the enforcement. The court had decided to pronounce the verdict today after hearing the argument on his bail plea last Thursday. However the bail hearing was adjourned till 3 pm after the Enforcement Directorate filed an affidavit this morning objecting to the argument note filed by Sivsankar yesterday. His argument note mentioned that he was pressurised to name a few political targets of ED’s choice which he refused and consequently he was arraigned as an accused and arrested.

Sivasankar had informed the court that pressure was exerted on him to name political leaders targeted by the ED in the gold smuggling case. He said that he was arrested for failing to abide it. The ED told the court that there was an ulterior motive behind making such arguments the day before pronouncing the verdict.