A legal saga that began more than three decades ago reached a major turning point on Saturday as the Nedumangadu Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I found MLA and former Kerala Transport Minister Antony Raju guilty of tampering with evidence. The case dates back to 1990, when Raju, then a junior lawyer, was accused of an elaborate plot to save his client, an Australian national named Andrew Salvatore Cervelli, who had been caught with 61.6 grams of charas at the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
Judge Rubi Ismail convicted Raju and a court clerk, KS Jose, on several serious counts, including criminal conspiracy, fabricating false evidence, and forgery. The crux of the crime was almost cinematic: after Cervelli was sentenced to ten years in prison, Raju allegedly conspired with the clerk to sneak a key piece of evidence — a pair of underwear used to conceal the drugs — out of the court’s custody. He reportedly had the garment resized so it would be too small for his client. When the case reached the High Court in 1991, the "physical demonstration" of the tiny garment failing to fit Cervelli led to his acquittal. The truth only began to unravel years later when Interpol notified Indian authorities that Cervelli had bragged about the trick while in an Australian jail.
The legal fallout for Raju could be severe. While the Magistrate court has found him guilty, it is restricted to handing out sentences of no more than three years. However, the Assistant Public Prosecutor has already moved a petition to transfer the case to the Chief Judicial Magistrate, arguing that the nature of the crimes — which carry potential sentences of up to ten years or even life — warrants a much harsher penalty than the lower court can provide. If this petition is granted, a higher court will pronounce the final sentence.
This conviction follows a long and winding road through the Indian judicial system. The case had actually been quashed by the Kerala High Court in 2023 on a technicality, but the Supreme Court stepped in last November, restoring the trial and emphasising that such "interference with judicial processes strikes at the foundation of justice." With the one-year deadline set by the apex court looming, the verdict marks a rare instance of a high-profile political figure being held accountable for actions taken at the very start of his legal career.
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