Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday reserved its verdict on a plea filed by former MLA Antony Raju seeking to set aside a sessions court order that refused to quash his conviction in an evidence tampering case.

Justice C Jayachandran heard detailed arguments from both sides before reserving the verdict.

Senior advocate P Vijayabhanu, appearing for Raju, argued that the former MLA had no knowledge that the underwear belonging to Australian national Andrew Salvatore, which was a key piece of evidence in a narcotics case, had allegedly been tampered with.

According to the prosecution, Salvatore was caught with narcotics hidden in his underwear during a frisking at Thiruvananthapuram airport in April 1990 while travelling to Mumbai. The seized articles, including the underwear, were kept in the custody of the Judicial Magistrate Court.

The prosecution alleged that a court clerk, the first accused in the case, released the underwear to Raju, who was then a junior lawyer assisting Salvatore. The underwear was later returned after allegedly being replaced with a smaller one, which ultimately led to Salvatore's acquittal in the case.

Raju's counsel told the court that the application to release the property had been filed by Salvatore's uncle and countersigned by Raju's senior advocate. He argued that Raju, being a junior lawyer at the time, had only accompanied his senior to collect the items and was unaware of the contents.

During the hearing, the court questioned the prosecution on the lack of evidence showing that Raju had any personal connection with Salvatore or any motive to tamper with the evidence.

The court also noted that while the physical act of receiving and returning the article had been proved, there was no clear evidence establishing criminal intent.

Raju's counsel further pointed out that the investigating officer had admitted during cross-examination that he was unaware of when, where or by whom the alleged tampering took place. Referring to a communication from Interpol, the defence argued that it suggested a court clerk had switched the underwear, but the information was not properly investigated.

Raju was named as the second accused in a 2014 case alleging conspiracy to tamper with evidence in the narcotics case to help Salvatore secure an acquittal.

He was later convicted by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Nedumangad and sentenced to various prison terms under multiple provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including conspiracy and destruction of evidence. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

Although the Sessions Court later suspended the execution of the sentence, it refused to suspend the conviction, prompting Raju to approach the High Court. Raju argued that keeping the conviction in force during the pendency of the appeal would cause irreversible harm, including disqualifying him from contesting elections.

The court has now reserved its verdict on the plea.
(With LiveLaw inputs)