Even Prime Minister had to go abroad to bring back our antiques: Kerala High Court in fake antique scam

The Kerala High Court touched upon the dark and unknown dealings in the antique market, both domestic and abroad, while hearing a matter pertaining to Monson Mavunkal, accused in the fake antiques scam (Ajith EV v. Commissioner of Police and Ors.)..Single judge Justice Devan Ramachandran opined that law enforcement authorities seemed to be operating without appreciating the seriousness of the antiquities business and the situation is such that the Prime Minister of the country has to go abroad to bring back antiques which belonged to India."There is a whole other world we don't know of antiques and antiquities. Our Prime Minister had to go abroad and get back our antiques. Kohinoor is still something that is passionate to us," Justice Ramachandran orally observed..The judge also did not take kindly to the fact that Mavunkal, with the knowledge of the police, had frequently been travelling abroad, even after the State Police Chief had received intelligence reports regarding his nefarious dealings."He (Monson Mavunkal) should have been prevented from travelling abroad. This is why investigation needs to be on a larger scale.....Police Chief is telling the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that this man is dealing in antiques abroad. Please see the (Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972) Act, you can't deal in antiques abroad. State Police Chief says this man is always travelling outside India. This is very very worrying and dangerous. If he was an ordinary man, he would have been in jail by now," he remarked orally.The Court recorded the same in the order passed today after it perused the documents produced by the Director General of Prosecution, TA Shaji, in a sealed cover. "I notice from the documents on record that the state police chief had addressed a letter dated 5/2/2020 to ED wherein various incriminating inputs regarding the 5th respondent have been given including that "most of the times he is abroad or in Delhi".... However, it is virtually without contest that the 5th respondent was allowed to roam free even obtaining access to the office of the State Police Chief for a function much thereafter," the Court said in its order..The Court also focused on the report, a portion of which was read out by Advocate Shaji which stated the following: "It is revealed from the statements of Sri Loknath Behra IPS, formal State Police Chief and Smt. Anitha Pillai, Coordinator, Women Wing of the Pravasi Malayali Federation(PMF) that the former state police chief along with ADGP visited the 5th respondents (Mavunkal) house museum as invited by Smt Anitha Pillai to see the antiques and paintings. Smt. Anitha Pillai is an Indian citizen residing in Italy with family. The fifth respondent was a patron of PMF.".The Court took a very serious view of the matter which it said now seems to involve not just top police officials but also an ex-pat organisation and a conman who was at liberty to travel abroad. ."The sum total of what I have observed above is that prima facie there appears to be much more than what meets the eye. Of course, the investigation is going on but the real question as I have already posed above is whether agencies outside Kerala need to involved particularly when the State police chief himself says that a dubious antique dealer was travelling abroad all the time", the order stated. .The Court, with fair agreement from Shaji, therefore directed the petitioner to implead the competent authorities from the Enforcement Directorate as party to the case.."I am only concerned about the investigation being proper. There cannot be a cover-up. So the investigation has to be conducted on several angles of the case with the assistance of different agencies", the judge emphasised..Monson Mavunkal gained notoriety in Kerala after news reports surfaced that he had allegedly conned several people of over ₹10 crores through his antique scam.Thereafter, Mavunkal's former driver, the petitioner in this case, approached the Kerala High Court through advocates Philip T Varghese and Thomas T Varghese.He sought protection from his former boss after he had disclosed some information regarding Mavunkal's scam to the police.Later, he informed the court that he has been receiving threats from police officials associated with Mavunkal and therefore, prayed for protection from such erring police officials as well.In October, some pictures surfaced in the media that showed that Monson Mavunkal was connected with the top police officials in the State, including Former Kerala Police Chief DGP Loknaath Behera and Current ADGP Manoj Abraham as well. On Wednesday, the Government gave the nod to suspend G Lakshman, Inspector General (traffic and social policing) for his purported connections with Mavunkal. The State Police Chief, Anil Kant, had recommended action against Lakshman on Tuesday after he received a report from the crime branch.IG Lakshman is the most senior IG in Kerala and was set to be promoted as the Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP) in a few months..The matter will be taken up next on November 19[Read Order]