Kerala High Court Stays All Proceedings Against Minister Antony Raju In Evidence Tampering Case

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed all the proceedings of the lower court pending against Transport Minister Antony Raju in the evidence tampering case for a period of one month.

While admitting the plea, Justice Ziyad Rahman A A observed that the offences alleged against the petitioner could only be prosecuted on the basis of a complaint by the concerned court or an authorised officer, and not by the police. Therefore, the Court found that the Minister made a prima facie case in his favour. 

"It is seen from the record that the aforesaid proceedings have not been complied with in this case and therefore I find a prima facie case in favour of the petitioner. Therefore, it is ordered that there shall be an interim order staying all further proceedings in CC 11/2014 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Nedumbangad for a period of one month." 

Antony Raju has been accused of tampering with evidence while he was practising as a lawyer. The prosecution case was that he conspired with a clerk of the Thiruvananthapuram court and replaced an undergarment, which was a material object in a drug trafficking case. The case involved an Australian citizen who was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The undergarment was treated as a crucial piece of evidence and the Magistrate trying the NDPS case had ordered for it to be stored separately to avoid it being confused as a personal belonging of the accused. The district court later sentenced the Australian to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. However, in an interesting turn of events, he was later acquitted by the High Court after the underwear presented as evidence in the trial court was found to be smaller and could not have been worn by the accused at the time of his arrest.

Therefore, it is alleged that through such tampering, Raju secured the release of the accused from the High Court.

In the plea moved through Advocate Deepu Thankan, the main contention of the petitioner was the major offence is under Section 193 IPC and the mandatory procedure as contemplated under Section 195 read with Section 340 of CrPC has not been complied with. As per Section 195(1) CrPC, the prosecution in respect of an offence under Section 193 IPC and the conspiracy to commit the same, if such offence is committed in, or in relation to, any proceedings in any court, can be conducted only on the basis of a complaint submitted by the court concerned or the officer authorized by the court or some other court to which that court is subordinate.

As per Section 195, the proceeding the prosecution in respect of an offence under section 193 IPC and the conspiracy to commit the same can only prosecute on the basis of a complaint submitted by a court concerned or officer authorised by the Court. 

Therefore, the Court issued an interim order to stay all proceedings of the JFCM, Nedumangad, in the case against the petitioner for a period of one month. 

Meanwhile, another petition has been filed in the High Court by George Vattukulam, a public interest litigant seeking an expedited trial in the case. Last week, the same Bench had called for the status report regarding the progress of the trial before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Nedumangad.

Case Title: Adv. Antony Raju v. State Of Kerala 

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 398

Click Here To Read/Download The Order