Kerala: Customs lens on diplomatic cargo

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOCHI: Amid allegations of violation of diplomatic protocol by higher education minister K T Jaleel, the customs has sought from the state government details of the diplomatic parcels received in the state in the past two years.
The customs have sought the details from the state protocol officer, who signs the certificate whenever a diplomatic parcel is received and is given clearance in the state.
It is also learnt that NIA officers from Kochi who are probing the gold smuggling case also met the protocol officer recently to enquire about the issue. Jaleel had cited religious beliefs for accepting food kits and copies of Holy Quran from the UAE consulate for distribution in his constituency. It is learnt that the cargo containing Quran was received on March 3 this year, and it weighed 4,479kg.
As per rules relating to diplomatic cargo, exemption certificate (from paying customs duty) will not be issued for importing religious books and related material if such material is for free public distribution or donation. Tourism promotion material and educational material also do not qualify for exemption from payment of customs duty. The exemption certificates are issued by the state protocol officer.
Jaleel had defended that distributing food kits and copies of Holy Quran is a practice followed by Arabs for centuries during the month of Ramzan. The copies of Quran have been given to two religious institutions to distribute in mosques when they are opened after the lockdown. He had also said that the copies that have been received through customs cargo was taken to the two religious institutions in the vehicle under C-APT, which is under his department.
The revelations by the minister that he had accepted sponsorship for food kits worth Rs 5lakh from UAE consular general along with copies of Quran, have already raised questions about serious violation of protocols by an Indian minister while dealing with foreign missions and diplomats.
The consular general had offered 1,000 food kits worth Rs 500 each to the minister for distributing it in his constituency.
Since it is a personal offer to the minister, it would be categorized as a gift from the consular general to the minister. As per the Section 4.2 of the code of conduct for the ministers, a Union or a state minister cannot accept gifts valued more than Rs 5,000 personally.
In the case of Jaleel, he had accepted the gift by entrusting the Consumerfed to distribute the food kits in his constituency and then got the bill paid from the UAE consulate. Also, it has been laid out in chapter 18 of the protocol handbook of the MEA that proposals by foreign diplomatic missions should be routed only through the MEA, and not directly to the ministers.
A customs source in Kochi said the notice was issued to the protocol officer seeking three main details. “First, we have been asked to submit details of exception certificates issued by the state protocol office, if any, in the past two financial years. Copies of such certificates have also been sought. Secondly, details of the authorized signatory of the consulate relating to such exemption have also been sought along with a copy of a specimen signature. The certified extract of the relevant page of the protocol handbook based on which exceptions were granted has also been sought,” said a customs officer.
In another development in the smuggling case, the customs has served a notice to the concerned nodal officer of BSNL call data records which were denied to the probe team.
Meanwhile, the additional chief judicial magistrate (economic offence) court postponed the verdict on bail petition filed by Swapna Suresh to Thursday. Order on bail pleas filed by Said Said Alavi and TM Samju would also be pronounced on Thursday. Opposing the bail plea of Alavi, customs said the smuggling racket worked like an illegal business establishment in which people made investments and that the respondent’s involvement is much more serious.
(With inputs from Disney Tom)