Kochi : The Kerala High Court of Friday quashed current detention of gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh under COFEPOSA (onservation of foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Act 1974).
The ruling came over a plea filed by Swapna’s mother that said that Swapna, a mother of two, is the only women in state being held in preventive detention under COFEPOSA and that she had no previous record of being convicted for any crime.
In the ruling, the Division Bench comprising Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Mohammed Nias CP, observed that evidences on hand were insufficient for sustaining detention under COFPOSA.
Backdrop : Swapna was remanded to custody on 12 July 2020 following investigations conducted by various agencies into alleged gold smuggling through diplomatic channels, money laundering and illegal financial transactions.
