THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sriramakrishnan's additional private secretary K Ayyappan will appear before the Customs for questioning on Friday. Earlier, the Customs had sent another notice to K Ayyappan's home address asking him to appear on Friday.

The Legislative Secretary had earlier written to the Customs informing that prior permission of the Speaker is required for questioning the Speaker's staff. This was heavily criticized by the Customs which, in its reply, stated that it is important to understand that Rule 165 of the Assembly Rules is not to meant for protecting criminals.