NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, reinstated criminal proceedings against Antony Raju, a former Kerala minister, in the 33-year-old underwear evidence tampering case. A bench comprising Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol directed the trial court to conclude the case within a year.
The decision came in response to Raju’s plea challenging the initiation of fresh criminal proceedings. The court had earlier stayed these proceedings in July 2023, citing procedural lapses by the Kerala government, including its failure to file a timely reply in March.
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Origins of the case
The case dates back to the early 1990s, when Raju, then a young lawyer, represented Andrew Salvatore Cervelli, an Australian man arrested at Thiruvananthapuram airport for allegedly smuggling 61.5 grams of charas hidden in his underwear. While Cervelli was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, his appeal in the Kerala High Court revealed a peculiar discrepancy—the underwear presented as evidence was too small to belong to him, leading to his acquittal.
Years later, based on information from the Australian National Central Bureau, the investigating officer sought a probe into possible evidence tampering. A criminal complaint was registered in 1994 against Raju and a court clerk, followed by a charge sheet in 2006.
High Court and Supreme Court interventions
In March 2023, the Kerala High Court quashed the trial court proceedings on technical grounds but clarified that fresh prosecution could proceed under Section 195(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court even directed its registry to initiate the process, prompting the Thiruvananthapuram trial court to reopen the case.
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Raju, now the leader of the Janadhipathya Kerala Congress and a member of the ruling Left Democratic Front, approached the Supreme Court to challenge these developments. His plea, however, was dismissed, paving the way for the trial to proceed.
Legal representation
Raju was represented by senior advocate R. Basant, along with a team of prominent lawyers, including Sriram Parakkat and Deepak Prakash. Advocates Saurabh Ajay Gupta and others represented MR Ajayan, a third party in the case, while senior advocate P.V. Dinesh led the representation for the state of Kerala.