Kerala High Court asks ED why it needs details of Thomas Isaac’s personal assets in KIIFB case

The court also said Thomas Isaac need not appear before the ED till next Wednesday as it posted his petition for further hearing on the same day.

Kochi:The Kerala High Court Thursday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) why it had sought details of the personal assets of former state finance minister Thomas Isaac for a probe into the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and noted he has a “right to privacy”.

A bench of Justice V G Arun made the oral observation while considering a petition moved by Isaac against the ED summons asking him to appear before it Thursday (August 11) in connection with the probe into the alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations in KIIFB, the state government’s flagship entity for infrastructure development projects.

The court also said Isaac need not appear before the ED till next Wednesday as it posted his petition for further hearing on the same day.

The senior CPI(M) leader, who had been KIIFB’s vice-chairman as the Kerala finance minister during the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) previous regime between 2016 and 2021, in his petition, stated that the ED had sought details of his assets, both movable and immovable, as well as of his family. The central agency had also demanded that he furnish income tax returns and details of financial transactions, he said in the plea.

The court said Isaac has a right to privacy and that cannot be breached without following the procedure established by law.

Seeking an explanation from the ED, the court said: “At the first instance, at the preliminary stage itself, can you ask for all these details? What is the material before you to decide that all these materials should be produced? I want an answer as to why you need all these documents,’’ the court observed.

The ED informed the court that Isaac was served notice not as an accused, but as a witness. It wanted Isaac to cooperate with the probe and turn up before the investigating officer.