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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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
