Ernakulam: The High Court has strongly criticized the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), questioning its reluctance to respond to summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The High Court questioned KIIFB, asking why the organization is afraid of Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons in the Masala bond case. The court expressed its disagreement with KIIFB’s approach of seeking refuge in the court alleging harassment without responding to ED’s summons. Justice Devan Ramachandran emphasized that ED’s investigation into Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations cannot be halted and pointed out KIIFB’s obligation to provide the required documents for the investigation.
This marks the sixth instance where KIIFB has received summons from the ED. The CEO of KIIFB, addressing the court, labeled this as harassment and raised concerns about the repeated summons. The court, in response, clarified that ED is merely seeking documents for a preliminary investigation. KIIFB informed the court that they require time to respond to the ED’s affidavit and assured that the investigation would not face any interruptions.
The ED has accused KIIFB of attempting to evade the investigation into the Masala bond case, alleging non-cooperation from officials for the past 10 months. The ED contends that issuing summons to the opposite parties, including KIIFB, is a procedural step and emphasized that evading the investigation is not appropriate.
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