It is not “proper” for the Enforcement Directorate to issue summons to an electoral candidate so close to the general elections, the Kerala high court observed on Tuesday when it adjourned a hearing in the masala bonds case to a later date that provided relief to TM Thomas Isaac, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Isaac, his party’s candidate in the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, had on February 1filed a plea before the high court, challenging the repeated summons being issued by the federal agency that investigates financial crimes, which is probing alleged violations of Foreign Exchange Management Act rules in the issuance of masala bonds by Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board in 2019.

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“I have gone through the files placed before me and I do not think it is proper stage to disclose details since these are matters to put to the persons facing investigation. However, I find that some transactions require explanations and the manner in which the explanations are received by the ED will be considered at a later stage since the elections are due and the petitioner is also a candidate,” justice TR Ravi said.

“I think it is not proper to disturb a candidate who is facing an election for a representation in Parliament at this stage, particularly because only less than a month is available for completing the elections,” the court observed.

At the last hearing, the high court had asked the ED’s counsel to submit at least one transaction pointing to illegal conduct of Isaac, who was finance minister of Kerala between 2016 and 2021. The central agency then submitted the documents to the court, which observed that some transactions require explanations by the petitioner. However, the court decided to adjourn the next hearing to May 22 by which time the polling for the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala will be completed.

Isaac has repeatedly stated that he will not appear before the ED for questioning, terming its repeated summons as “pure harassment”.

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“How can they (ED) find something now that they have been investigating for one and a half years and couldn’t find? That’s pure harassment. It is meant to tarnish us,” Isaac had said in January. “The summons of the ED is against the essence of what the court said. I have told (the agency in the letter) that they must withdraw from sending such summons. If they won’t withdraw, I will approach the court again.”