High Court upholds stay on Kerala panel probing ED in gold case

In a setback to the LDF government, the Kerala High Court on Friday upheld the interim order of a single-judge bench staying the functioning of the Justice VK Mohanan Commission, appointed by the state government to probe whether any conspiracy was hatched or deliberate attempts were made to implicate political leaders, including CM Pinarayi Vijayan, in the gold smuggling case.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

A Division Bench comprising Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice Syam Kumar VM dismissed the state government's appeal against the 2021 interim order passed by a single judge, who had stayed the judicial inquiry.

“We have affirmed the interim order passed by the learned single judge, whereby it has been held that the Enforcement Directorate is amenable to writ jurisdiction. We have upheld it. Writ Appeal is dismissed,” the court said.

The Justice VK Mohanan Commission was tasked to examine alleged jurisdictional overreach and political bias by central agencies, particularly the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in attempting to link the Chief Minister and other state officials to the gold smuggling case.