Kerala High Court stays arrest of top ED official, accused of demanding ₹2 crore bribe, till June 11

The Kerala High Court on Monday ordered the police to not arrest the Assistant Director of Enforcement Directorate, Kochi, till June 11. The interim order was passed by Justice PG Ajithkumar, a LiveLaw report said.

The order was passed after the Public Prosecutor sought time and admitted that no arrest would be made till the matter is heard.

Businessman Aneesh Babu had filed a case against Shekhar Kumar, 37, accusing him of demanding a ₹2 crore bribe in order to let the businessman out of a case the ED had filed against him.

What is the case?

The case stems from a complaint by a man linked to ‘Vazhavila Cashews,’ a cashew trading business in Kottarakara owned by his mother. The ED had previously summoned the complainant and his parents in 2021 over allegations that they took large advance payments from local cashew traders but failed to deliver cashew imports as promised.

The ED began investigating under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, following several police cases registered in different stations, with claims of fraud amounting to ₹24 crore.

The complainant has now alleged that a second accused person told him to pay ₹2 crore to Kumar to avoid prosecution. He also claimed he was asked to pay ₹2 lakh on May 15, 2025. The FIR was filed based on these allegations.

Bail plea filed by ED official

Kumar, currently serving as Assistant Director at the ED's Kochi office, had moved the Kerala High Court on May 24, seeking anticipatory bail after being named as first accused in the corruption case registered by the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).

Kumar had claimed that he has been falsely implicated in the case.

According to a PTI report, the charges against him fall under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which relates to taking undue advantage to influence a public servant through corrupt or illegal means or personal influence. He also faces a charge under Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which deals with criminal conspiracy.

However, in his plea, Kumar argued that he is innocent and has no connection with the second accused. He also pointed out that there has been no contact between him and the other accused, nor any financial transactions linking him to the alleged bribe demand.

Kumar maintained that the complainant, who has failed to cooperate with the ED investigation and skipped multiple summons, is now using the vigilance case as a tactic to escape legal action against himself, the report added.