Ex-Kerala minister sentenced to three years in jail for evidence tampering in drugs case
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): A court here on Saturday sentenced former Kerala transport minister Antony Raju and a court official to imprisonment for tampering with evidence in a 1990 drug seizure case.
Raju, a serving MLA of the Janadhipathya Kerala Congress and an LDF ally, was convicted by the Nedumangad Judicial First Class Magistrate Ruby Ismail in connection with tampering with evidence related to the seizure of 61.5 grams of hashish from an Australian national at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in 1990.
The court also convicted K S Jose, a former clerk of a court in Thiruvananthapuram, in the case.
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Both were found guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 193 (giving false evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant), 465 (forgery) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
Raju was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment under Section 120B, three years under Section 201, three years under Section 193 and two years under Section 465.
Jose was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment under Section 409, in addition to other sentences.
The court imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on Jose, and Raju was directed to pay a fine of Rs 10,000.
Earlier, the prosecution had sought transfer of the sentencing proceedings to the Chief Judicial Magistrate under Section 325 of the CrPC, citing the magistrate’s limited powers to award sentences exceeding three years.
However, the court dismissed the plea and proceeded with sentencing.
The court in its judgement observed that the accused was a court staff and the second was an advocate of law at the time of the commission of the offences proved in this case.
“The offences established in this case strike at the very foundation of the administration of justice and involve deliberate interference with a material object kept in the custody of the court. Such conduct, particularly when committed by persons who were expected to uphold the sanctity of judicial proceedings, cannot be viewed lightly,” the court said.
The benevolent provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, are not applicable in the present case, it said.
A police officer said Raju would not be taken into custody as the sentence awarded was less than three years.
He was granted bail to enable him to file an appeal before a higher court.
KK Jayamohan, the investigating officer in the original drug seizure case, welcomed the verdict.
"For me, the conviction matters more than the quantum of sentence. Those responsible have been punished," he told reporters.
Before sentencing, Raju termed the case "politically motivated" and reiterated his innocence.
He said vigilance and police probes conducted during the A K Antony-led government in 2002 had found no evidence against him.
"I am confident of my innocence. Even innocent people can sometimes be punished by courts, and this is the latest example," he said.
Raju, who was a junior lawyer at the time, had appeared for the accused, Andre Salvatore Cervelli.
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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.
Cervelli later returned to Australia. Subsequently, the investigating officer, Jayamohan, 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 1994, and a charge sheet was filed against the accused in 2005. Although the Kerala High Court quashed the case in 2023, the Supreme Court in 2024 set aside the order and directed the trial court to complete the proceedings within one year.
During the trial, 29 witnesses, 55 documents and two material objects were examined.
Meanwhile, Congress activists staged a protest near the court complex, demanding Raju’s resignation as MLA.
When Raju was returning from the court, his car was blocked by Congress activists.
Later, police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the mob, and some of the activists suffered injuries in the action.
Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan said that he had raised the matter in the Assembly multiple times.
“He should not have been made a minister despite Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan knowing about the case. He committed a grave crime by tampering with evidence in a narcotics case involving a foreign national. Despite this, the Chief Minister made him a minister for two-and-a-half years,” Satheesan said.
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Second PUC results: Life convict clears exam with distinction, DGP lauds effort
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Bengaluru: A life convict lodged in Ballari Central Prison has successfully cleared the second PUC examination.
Ashok Kumar S, who appeared for the examination under prison escort, secured 481 marks out of 600, registering 80.1 percent.
Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), Alok Kumar (IPS), shared the development on his official ‘X’ handle, commending the inmate’s achievement.
In his post, he stated that it was heartening to see a life convict score over 80 percent in the examination, adding that the inmate had appeared from Ballari Central Prison under escort.
It’s heartening to see that one of our life convict prisoners Ashok has obtained 80.1% marks in PUC exam. He appeared under Prison escort from Ballari Central Prison for his exams.
— alok kumar (@alokkumar6994) April 9, 2026
Glad to see that Walls of the prison has not subdued his hopes for a better future. pic.twitter.com/Nzlcy076SR
He further noted that the achievement reflected that the “walls of the prison have not subdued his hopes for a better future.”
Alok Kumar in his post also shared the result sheet of Ashok.
The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) declared the second PUC results for 2026 on April 9.
A total of 6,32,200 students appeared for the examination across all streams, of whom 5,46,698 passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 86.48 per cent.
