Kerala High Court’s Division Bench on Friday quashed the preventive detention of Swapna Suresh, accused in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities (COFEPOSA) Act, 1974.

The Bench comprising Justice Justice Mohammed Nias C P and AK Jayasankaran Nambiar passed the verdict on a petition filed by Kumari Prabha, mother of Swapna seeking to produce the detainee now in the Women’s Prison and Correctional Home,  Thiruvananthapuram, challenging the preventive detention order.

However, Swapna Suresh will continue to cool her heels in the jail here, as she faces charges slapped by the NIA probe team. Hearing a plea filed by her mother, a division bench of the court noted that the charges under Cofeposa do not hold good.

The smuggling case surfaced on July 5, 2020, when the Customs arrested Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, for allegedly smuggling gold in diplomatic baggage destined for the Consulate. Swapna Suresh, who also worked previously in the UAE Consulate, and her associate Sandip Nair were detained in the same case by the National Investigation Agency from Bengaluru a few days later and since then, all three have been in judicial custody.

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