Sivasankar was the principal secretary to Pinarayi Vijayan, when in 2020 his name surfaced along with the primary accused in the gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh. Sivasankar was send to jail in October that year.
Thiruvanathapuram: A day after the Pinarayi Vijayan government gave him more responsibilities, top bureaucrat M. Sivasankar’s application for voluntary retirement was rejected by Chief Secretary V.P.Joy on Wednesday. He was to superannuate on January 31, 2023.
It was last week that he put in his request for availing Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). But, it was rejected on technical grounds and according to sources, one reason was that since there are cases against him, it would be not possible to give him VRS.
He got bail in February 2021 and was reinstated in January this year. He was posted as Principal Secretary Youth and Sports Affairs and on Tuesday the Vijayan government gave him additional charge of Animal Husbandry and Diary Development.
The smuggling case came to light on July 5, 2020, when the Customs arrested Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, for allegedly smuggling gold in a diplomatic baggage destined for the Consulate. Swapna Suresh, who previously worked in the UAE Consulate, and her associate Sandip Nair were arrested in the case by the NIA from Bengaluru a few days later. Trouble started for Sivasankar after Swapna’s arrest and then came out the tales of the relation with Sivasankar.
