Kerala: Disqualified LDF MLA Antony Raju files appeal against conviction in evidence tampering case

Thiruvananthapuram: LDF leader Antony Raju, who was disqualified as MLA after being sentenced in an evidence tampering case, has filed an appeal against his conviction before the Thiruvananthapuram District Sessions Court.

The court, after considering the petition on Saturday, posted the matter to January 24.

In his appeal, Raju challenged the verdict of the magistrate's court, alleging that a fair trial was not conducted in the case.

Raju, a leader of the Janadhipathya Kerala Congress, a constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), was sentenced to three years of simple imprisonment by the Judicial First Class Magistrate-I Court, Nedumangad, in a case related to tampering of evidence while serving as a lawyer for an Australian citizen arrested in a drug case in 1990.

The court had also convicted K S Jose, a former court clerk in Thiruvananthapuram, in the same case. Following the conviction, the Secretariat of the Kerala Legislature issued a notification confirming Raju’s disqualification.

Raju, who worked as a junior lawyer, had appeared for Andre Salvatore Cervelli, who was caught with drugs at Thiruvananthapuram airport in 1990.

While a sessions court had initially convicted Cervelli and sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment, the Kerala High Court acquitted him in 1994.

The acquittal was based on the defence argument that the innerwear in which the contraband was allegedly concealed was too small to fit the accused.

Subsequently, the investigating officer, Jaimohan, reported to the state police chief that evidence tampering had occurred.

A probe by the Kerala High Court vigilance wing, followed by a police investigation, found that Raju and Jose had conspired to tamper with the undergarment, a crucial piece of evidence.

The case was registered in 2005, and a charge sheet was later filed against the accused.