NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former Principal Secretary M. Sivasankar to undergo a medical examination at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) Pondicherry.
Sivasankar, a retired bureaucrat, was granted interim bail on medical grounds in August this year by the top court in connection with the money laundering charges filed against him in the LIFE Mission case.
Additional Solicitor General K.M. Natraj, appearing for the central anti-money laundering agency, urged a bench presided over by Justice M.M. Sundresh that Sivasankar be examined in any government hospital outside Kerala.
Accordingly, the bench, also comprising Justice Aravind Kumar, ordered for medical examination of Sivasankar at Pondicherry’s JIPMER and said that it will take up the matter post winter break for further hearing.
Meanwhile, it directed that the interim bail granted earlier be extended till the next date of hearing.
Senior advocate Jayanth Muthuraj, assisted by advocate A. Selvin Raja, appeared on Sivasankar’s behalf.
In an earlier hearing, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed the grant of extension saying that Sivasankar's application is based on certifications issued by private hospitals.
Sivasankar, soon after he retired from service on January 31, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a bribery case related to the LIFE (Livelihood, Inclusion and Financial Empowerment) Mission.
The LIFE Mission is a housing security scheme of the Kerala government that aims to provide houses to all the landless and homeless residents of the state.
It is alleged that several persons, among whom are government officials including Sivasankar, received pecuniary advantages and illegal gratification out of the funds received from UAE Red Crescent meant for flood victims in Kerala through the LIFE Mission project.