Former Kerala Transport Minister Antony Raju, MLA, appeared in the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Nedumangadu, on Friday to face a police case for tampering with evidence submitted in court in a drug case registered against an Australian national. , Andrew Salvatore.
The twists and turns of the sensational case date back to the 1990s when Mr. Raju, now a Janathipathy Kerala Congress leader allied to the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), was the prosecuting attorney in the Thiruvananthapuram district court.
The state police detained an Australian national at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in April 1990 for allegedly concealing hashish in his undergarment. Police produced the suspect’s belongings as evidence on record in the Thiruvananthapuram Magistrate’s Court. They included her undergarment, which police introduced as exhibit material used to hide the drugs.
While in judicial custody, the Australian national obtained a magistrate’s approval to release his personal belongings unrelated to the prosecution from the court’s physical goods room. The police argued that the clerk of court, Jose, released the articles, including the undergarment of the alleged crime, to Mr. Raju, who represented Andrew Salvatore, as part of a conspiracy to protect the accused from legal jeopardy.
They alleged that Mr. Raju tampered with the undergarment and returned it to the court clerk, saying it was an important material in the case as part of a criminal design.
Found guilty
Ultimately, a district court found the Australian citizen guilty of the crime. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act. In 1991, the Kerala High Court overturned the conviction, saying that a practical test had proved that the undergarments used to hide the drugs did not physically fit Andrew Salvatore.
Interpol
The case took an unexpected turn in 2005 when Victoria Police in Australia arrested Andrew Salvatore on drug charges. Victoria Police reported to Interpol that the arrestee had bragged to a police informant while in prison that he had escaped prosecution in India by hiring lawyers and court clerks to tamper with evidence. Interpol reported the matter to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI forwarded the Victoria Police report to the state police through the Crime Branch headquarters. As a result, the Kerala Police arrested Mr. Raju and Mr. Jose as prime suspects. In March 2023, the Kerala High Court dismissed the case pending since 2006 in the Nedumangadu Magistrate Court.
The case gets new life
The case got a new lease of life in November 2024 when the Supreme Court overturned the High Court verdict. The Supreme Court ordered the Nedumangdu Magistrate’s Court to resume hearing the case. It also ordered Mr. Raju to appear before a magistrate on December 20. The Supreme Court has set a deadline of one year to complete the hearing of the case.
Mr. Raju’s counsel applied to the Magistrate for a special court to try the case for MPs and MLAs in Kochi. Magistrates will hear the matter again on Monday.
published – Dec 20, 2024 06:29 pm IST