Thiruvananthapuram: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) sent summons to former Finance Minister and senior Kerala CPI(M) leader Thomas Isaac once more, in the ‘Masala Bond’ case. He is instructed to appear at the Kochi ED office on Tuesday. Thomas Isaac had received summons to appear on January 12 and 21 but he did not appear for questioning. Following this, the summons has been sent again.
The summons was sent to Thomas Isaac for the third time, when he has approached the Kerala High Court questioning the ED’s summons to him. He argues that the ED’s summons is in violation of the High Court’s single bench order.
The ED’s summons to Thomas Isaac is for questioning him in a FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) case linked to the alleged violations in the financial dealings of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) during his tenure as the Finance Minister in the previous LDF government. The investigation of the ED is into the use of Rs 2,000 crore raised by KIIFB through masala bonds and its compliance with the FEMA norms.
KIIFB is an important state government agency for financing large and critical infrastructure projects. As part of its goal to generate Rs 50,000 crore to finance significant and important infrastructure projects, it had raised Rs 2,150 crore through its first masala bond issue in 2019.
Masala bonds are bonds issued outside India but denominated in Indian Rupees, rather than the local currency. Masala is a Hindi word meaning spices. The term was used by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to evoke the culture and cuisine of India.
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