The Kerala High Court has stayed the arrest of the senior bureaucrat M Sivasankaran by Customs in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case till October 23.
The court had earlier restrained the Enforcement Directorate from arresting the official till the date. The court will consider the two cases on the date, ordered Justice Ashok Menon.
During the argument, counsel for the official submitted that he had presented himself before all investigating agencies for hours together for interrogation and was fully cooperating with the agencies. He also submitted that he had been interrogated for over 90 hours by various agencies and travelled over 600 hours from his home at Thiruvananthapuram and back for appearing before various agencies.
Regarding his hospitalisation in Thiruvananthapuram, the official submitted that there were attempts even to forcefully discharge him from the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, where he was admitted.
Opposing the bail plea, counsel for the Customs sought time for filing a counter-statement in the case. The official was adopting a belligerent attitude towards interrogation and was evading answers to many questions. He also openly contradicted the statements made by the Chief Minister the other day, counsel submitted.