Court reserves order in Anto Augustine’s anticipatory bail plea

The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court has reserved for order Reporter TV Managing Director Anto Augustine’s anticipatory bail in two cases: one related to the alleged multi-crore fraud behind the failed bid to bring the Argentina football team led by Lionel Messi to Keralam, and the other registered based on his allegations that Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan had entered into a second marriage while his existing marriage was subsisting.

The court has posted the case for Monday. Mr. Augustine moved the application anticipating an imminent move to arrest him after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case related to the Messi row carried out search operations at the headquarters of Reporter Broadcasting Private Limited and locations linked to him and his brothers last week.

Incidentally, he was arrested and remanded to judicial custody in an Abkari case registered by the Excise Department after 67 litres of liquor, beyond the permissible limit, were seized from his ancestral home in Wayanad. He has since secured bail from the High Court.

“The prosecution has clarified that arrest was not imminent in either case. We have also demanded that any such move should be preceded by appropriate notice,” said defence sources.

Mr. Augustine had also moved the court, seeking the release of $6,200 seized by the SIT during the search operations. However, the prosecution opposed the plea on the ground that the source of the foreign currency remains to be established and that forensic accounting is required.

The case against Mr. Augustine over allegations against Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan was originally registered by the Cyber Crime Police, Thiruvananthapuram City, based on a complaint filed by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson Raju P. Nair. It was subsequently transferred to the Kochi City Police, considering that the alleged place of occurrence of the controversial remarks made by Mr. Augustine was Kalamassery.