Kerala High Court refuses interim bail to Reporter TV MD Anto Augustine

The Kerala High Court on Friday refused to grant interim bail to managing director of Malayalam news channel Reporter TV, Anto Augustine, who sought bail after he was arrested on allegations of possessing liquor in excess of the legally permissible levels under the Kerala Abkari Act. [Anto Augustine v State of Kerala]

Justice Kauser Edappagath declined urgent relief after the prosecution informed the court that it has moved an application seeking police custody of Augustine and that he is scheduled to be produced before the magistrate court on Saturday.

In view of the custody application, the Court declined to grant interim bail at this stage.

However, the Court enquired whether Augustine could be connected to the property from which the alleged liquor was recovered, particularly in view of claim that the property had been sold in SARFESI proceedings in 2022.

The judge then asked the prosecution to produce material if available to establish that Augustine was actually in position of the property.

The matter will be heard next on September 22.

Augustine was arrested in the case on September 17. He was remanded to 14 days if judicial custody. He later moved a bail before a trial court, which rejected the application earlier today.

This prompted him to approach the High Court.

Augustine was arrested a day after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kerala Police searched his offices and residences.

The search was conducted as part of a probe into alleged financial fraud in connection with a failed football event with the Argentinian national team and footballer Lionel Messi. Augustine's Reporter Broadcasting Company was the main commercial sponsor of the event.

During a raid reportedly conducted at Augustine's family home in Wayanad, police uncovered roughly 67 litres of foreign liquor and wine, which exceeds the legally permissible limit for personal possession.

The Excise Department arrested Augustine in the early hours of Thursday.

Augustine has been booked under Sections 55(i), 55(a) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act, which penalise illegal import, export, transport, sale, and illicit possession of liquor or intoxicating drugs.

In his bail plea, Augustine has argued that the property from which the liquor was seized was sold during a bank auction in 2022, and was no longer in his possession.

“The petitioner has therefore had neither title to nor possession of the building for more than four years before the date of the alleged detection,” the bail plea filed before the High Court states. 

The plea says that the trial court denied Augustine bail mainly on the premise that the property belonged to him, based on a building certificate issued by the local authority and by holding that a sale certificate in respect of the said property was not conclusive. Augustine has questioned this approach.

"A building certificate is a record maintained for the levy of property tax; it is neither a document of title nor evidence of possession, and it continues to reflect the name of the person originally assessed until the transferee applies for mutation," his plea states.

The bail application has also alleged flaws in the manner in which the search was conducted and he was arrested. The plea highlights that Augustine was not present when the liquor was seized.

He has also alleged that no independent witnesses were summoned when the search was carried out, and that the witnesses present were chance witnesses. 

Further, he has argued that his arrest in the case was flawed since the grounds of arrest were not conveyed to his family. 

Regarding criminal antecedents, it is Augustine's claim that the 41 cases cited against him all arise out of the same incident.

"The petitioner is on bail in every one of them and has complied with every condition imposed; no application for cancellation has ever been moved," the bail plea further states.

He added that there was no need for custodial interrogation in this case, while urging the High Court to grant him bail.

Augustine was represented by senior counsel S Sreekumar along with advocates MP Shameem Ahamed and Muhammed Firdouz AV.

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