Former Kerala CMO Chief Secretary Shivshankar In Custody

Former Kerala CMO Chief Secretary Shivshankar sent to judicial custody till 9 February: Dollar Smuggling Case. The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Economic Offenses) Court has sent former Kerala CMO Chief Secretary M Shivshankar to judicial custody in connection with the smuggling of dollars till February 9.

It has been told that the court will hear his bail application on 1 February. Let me tell you that the suspended IAS officer M. Shivshankar was arrested by the Customs Department last week in the dollar smuggling case which came out during the investigation of the gold smuggling case in Kerala.

Sources had then reported that Shivshankar’s was lodged in the jail where he has been in judicial custody since he was arrested by the Customs Department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in gold smuggling cases.

Let us tell you that the case is related to smuggling of $ 1.90 lakh (about Rs 1.30 crore) from Muscat in Oman through the former Finance Head of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram.

The accused in the gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh and Sarith PS, are also allegedly involved in the case and the Customs Department has already arrested them. Recall that Shiv Shankar is the former Chief Secretary of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

NGT pulls the Kerala government over solid waste management. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has pulled up the Kerala government for the solid waste management case, saying the administration has failed to protect citizens’ right to a clean environment.

A bench headed by NGT Chairman Justice AK Goel said that despite repeated instructions in the last two years, no meaningful steps were taken towards compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and solid waste disposal.

According to the report of the State Pollution Control Board, it is clear from the sample that environmental standards are not being met. The Municipal Corporation is still running unauthorized operations. Bio-mining has not started. Compensation was assessed, but it was not recovered.

The bench said that the affidavit of the Chief Secretary does not show that any effective action has been taken at the ground level. The situation is not satisfactory.

Non-compliance with environmental regulations is no different from maintaining law and order. The frequent violation of environmental regulations is not only a violation of the rights of citizens but is also dangerous for public health.