5 hrs ago
Kerala High Court Grants Conditional Bail to Reporter TV Chief
The Kerala High Court has allowed Anto Augustine to leave custody under certain conditions.
Augustine leads Reporter Broadcasting Company.
He was arrested after liquor and wine were found at a property in Wayanad.
Officials registered a case under Kerala’s Abkari Act.
Augustine’s lawyers said he did not control the property and was not there when it was searched.
They also said the property had been sold through a bank auction.
Another investigation involving alleged financial problems connected to a proposed football event is separate.
Both investigations will continue.
The Kerala High Court granted conditional bail to Anto Augustine, managing director of Reporter Broadcasting Company.
Augustine had been arrested after officials seized about 65 litres of liquor and wine from a Wayanad property.
His earlier bail request was rejected by a Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Sulthan Bathery.
His defence argued that he neither owned nor controlled the property and was absent during the search.
The excise case is separate from a police probe into alleged financial irregularities involving a proposed Lionel Messi visit to Kerala.
- Who
- Anto Augustine, managing director of Reporter Broadcasting Company, and Kerala Excise Department officials are involved.
- What
- The Kerala High Court granted Augustine conditional bail in a liquor seizure case.
- Where
- The liquor was seized from a property in Wayanad; Augustine was arrested at the Reporter TV office in Kalamassery, and the bail matter was heard by the Kerala High Court.
- When
- The order was issued on Tuesday, after Augustine had spent several days in custody following his arrest the previous Thursday.
- Why
- The court granted bail after hearing the case; the defence argued that Augustine did not possess or control the property and was absent during the search.
Defence Position
Case Allegations and Investigation
Control of the property
Defence Position
Augustine’s defence said he neither possessed nor controlled the property, which had been mortgaged to the State Bank of India and later sold through a SARFAESI auction in 2022.
Case Allegations and Investigation
The Excise Department registered a case after liquor and wine were recovered from the property and invoked provisions of the Kerala Abkari Act.
Presence during the search
Defence Position
The defence maintained that Augustine was not present at the premises when officials conducted the search.
Case Allegations and Investigation
The seizure formed the basis of the excise case, while investigations into the circumstances surrounding the recovery continue.
Relationship between investigations
Defence Position
Augustine denied the liquor-case allegations and said he cooperated with the probe into the proposed football event.
Case Allegations and Investigation
The excise case followed searches by a Kerala Police Special Investigation Team into alleged financial irregularities connected to the proposed visit of Lionel Messi and the Argentina national football team; authorities have treated the matters as separate investigations.
Key facts
- Accused
- Anto Augustine, managing director of Reporter Broadcasting Company
- Seized material
- About 65 litres of liquor and wine
- Seizure location
- A house or property in Wayanad
- Legal provisions
- Sections 55(a), 55(i) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act
- Earlier bail decision
- Rejected by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Sulthan Bathery
- High Court outcome
- Conditional bail granted after a detailed hearing
- Separate investigation
- A Kerala Police probe into alleged financial irregularities linked to a proposed Lionel Messi and Argentina national football team visit to Kerala
Sources
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