Swapna Suresh accuses KT Jaleel of 'anti-national activities', alleges he sought help from Consul General to ban newspaper in UAE
Kochi (Kerala) [India], July 22 (ANI): Swapna Suresh, prime accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, has accused former Kerala minister and CPM MLA KT Jaleel of anti-national activities while serving as a minister in the previous Left government.
She also accused Jaleel of having shady deals with the Consul General. She claimed that illegal transactions between the two were done through the diplomatic channel.
According to her, Jaleel had promised the Consul General all the support of the state government including the ruling political party as well as the Chief Minister in furthering the unauthorised business activities of the Consul General misusing the diplomatic channel.
She alleged this in the affidavit submitted before the Kerala High Court in a case of conspiracy registered against her on the complaint of KT Jaleel.
Swapna Suresh was then the PA to the Consul General. She, in her statement, had said that Jaleel had sought the support of the Consul General to ban the newspaper in the Gulf.
The affidavit reads, "The petitioner is in possession of the WhatsApp chat which KT Jaleel had with the petitioner which the petitioner is producing before this Court along with this affidavit. These chats have taken place in the backdrop of the situation where, because of the delay in bringing back a lot of expatriates working in UAE several deaths have taken place due to COVID. KT Jaleel has approached the petitioner pointing out one of the reports of Madhyamam daily showing the death of the expatriates in UAE due to COVID. He has informed the petitioner that this report has to be utilised for banning the publication of the above media in Gulf countries which in turn will give him political leverage in his political party. He has also requested the petitioner to help him to take steps to see that he attains a special space in the minds of the rulers of UAE."
"He informed the petitioner that he is taking these steps as suggested by the Consul General so that he can do more activities through the Consulate using the diplomatic channel. The petitioner consulted with the Consul General about this requirement of KT Jaleel and also about his claim that the Consul General has supported his move. The Consul General informed the petitioner that KT Jaleel has promised the Consul General all the support of the State Government including the ruling political party as well as the Chief minister in furthering the unauthorised business activities of the Consul General misusing the diplomatic channel."
"The Consul General has also informed the petitioner that he and Mr KT Jaleel has planned several business activities inside and outside Kerala and placing KT Jaleel in the good books of the rulers of UAE is a must and that the present move in informing the rulers of UAE painting the activities of a daily operating from Kerala publishing in Gulf Countries as anti-UAE will help in achieving the above goal."
The Consul General has also informed the petitioner that KT Jaleel has told him that banning the newspaper in question will give political mileage to Jaleel in the ruling party so that he can influence the party and the government to further support the business activities of the Consul General by misusing the Consulate. So the petitioner agreed with the demand of KT Jaleel and decided to help him in sending the letter to the ruler of UAE Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan - the then President of UAE.
As suggested by the petitioner he has drafted a letter addressed to the ruler of UAE and sent the same through his email to the Consul General which he could not open because of some technical issue. KT Jaleel thereafter started frequently calling the petitioner as well as the Consul General enquiring about the fate of the letter he has send to the ruler of UAE through the Consul General. When the frequent calls of KT Jaleel started creating trouble and nuisance to the Consul General he instructed the petitioner to deal with KT Jaleel, the affidavit further read.
In response to the several calls made and messages sent to the petitioner by KT Jaleel, the petitioner responded by sending a Whatsapp chat instructing KT Jaleel to send a copy of the letter addressed to the ruler of UAE in wats app to the petitioner. As instructed by the petitioner, KT Jaleel has sent a copy of the letter addressed to the ruler of UAE to the petitioner. Since the petitioner found the contents of the letter and language inappropriate and not befitting to be addressed to a head of state, the petitioner instructed KT Jaleel to amend the letter and resend the same. The petitioner has also enquired with KT Jaleel about the contents of the attachments he has to send along with this mail which was two pages of 'Madhyamam' daily.
As he was complaining about the contents of that report, the petitioner made enquiries as the contents were not against the rulers or administration of UAE as falsely claimed by KT Jaleel in his letter addressed to the ruler of UAE.
In response, he informed the petitioner that it will not be a problem as he is not proposing to send a translation of the news report contained in the attachment which is in Malayalam. So in effect, his attempt was to hoodwink and fool the ruler of UAE and its administration for his political gain. Since the Consul General instructed the petitioner to support the move of KT Jaleel, the petitioner was forced to stand with this illegality of KT Jaleel and has forwarded the letter of KT Jaleel with its attachment to the ruler of UAE through the email of the Consul General, the affidavit stated.
KT Jaleel has done this illegality of writing a letter directly to the head of a State without any legal authority or power against the citizens of India in the pretext of protecting the interest of UAE a foreign Nation, its rulers and its citizen.
"The action of KT Jaleel as a minister is in total violation of the oath of office as his action is in effect against the interest of our nation and its citizens including a news daily of this nation which is considered the fourth pillar of our Constitution. All the citizens of this country and all the organisations established and functioning in the country as per the laws of this land forms part of this Nation and therefore the action of KT Jaleel in conspiring against the citizens and organisations of this Nation while holding the Constitutional post of a Minister of State is in total violation of his oath of office and MEA Protocol and therefore is unconstitutional and anti-national and betrayal of people's confidence reposed in him as an elected representative. From the contents of the letter of KT Jaleel, it is clear and evident that his allegiance is more towards UAE which is a foreign country than with India in which country he is residing and a citizen of," the affidavit read. (ANI)
Source: National