Kerala HC grants conditional bail to Reporter TV MD Anto Augustine

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday granted conditional bail to Anto Augustine, Managing Director of Reporter Broadcasting Company, in a case registered by the Excise Department following the seizure of a large quantity of liquor from a house in Wayanad.

The relief comes after Augustine spent several days in judicial custody following his arrest last Thursday.

His earlier bail application had been rejected by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Sulthan Bathery, prompting him to approach the High Court.

The court had also declined interim bail on Friday and scheduled the matter for a detailed hearing on Tuesday before granting him conditional bail.

Augustine was arrested from the Reporter TV office at Kalamassery after excise officials seized around 65 litres of liquor and wine during a search conducted at a property in Wayanad. The case has been registered under Sections 55(a), 55(i) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act.

During the hearings, the defence argued that Augustine neither possessed nor controlled the property from which the liquor was allegedly recovered. It contended that the property had been mortgaged to the State Bank of India and was later sold through a SARFAESI auction in 2022.

The defence also maintained that Augustine was not present at the premises during the search and questioned the applicability of the sections invoked under the Abkari Act.

The excise case is separate from an ongoing police probe into alleged financial irregularities linked to the proposed visit of football star Lionel Messi and the Argentina national football team to Kerala.

Shortly before the excise case was registered, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala Police conducted searches at the offices of Reporter Broadcasting Company and at properties associated with Augustine and his brothers, seizing documents and records as part of its investigation.

The timing of Augustine's arrest, coming soon after the SIT searches, had triggered debate and raised questions over the action taken against the head of the media organisation.

Augustine has denied the allegations in the liquor case and has maintained that he has cooperated with investigators in the football-event probe.

With the High Court's order, Augustine will be released from custody subject to the conditions imposed by the court, while investigations in both the excise case and the financial irregularities probe continue.

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