Kalpetta: After the Kerala Excise Department seized 64.844 litres of liquor from Moongananiyil House at Karappuzha in Muttil of Wayanad district, the ownership of the building has come under scrutiny with a discrepancy emerging between documents produced by the defence in court and records maintained by the Muttil grama panchayat.

Anto Augustine, Managing Editor of the Reporter Broadcasting Company, who is facing a case under the Abkari Act after the liquor seizure, told the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Sulthan Bathery, that he was no longer the owner of the property. His counsel later produced an SBI sale certificate before the High Court, showing that the property was sold in an e-auction in 2022.

However, Muttil panchayat records continue to list Augustine’s name against the building, including in records concerning payment of building tax.

The conflicting records have raised questions about the legal ownership, possession and control of the property. The SBI certificate names Lilly Jose as the purchaser, while Augustine’s name continues to appear in local body records.

During the hearing of Augustine's bail plea, his counsel produced the SBI sale certificate before the HC and contended that the property was neither owned nor possessed by Augustine.

According to the document, the property had been mortgaged to the SBI by Anto Augustine as security for a financial facility extended to Asian Motors, Pathadippalam, Edappally, Kochi. Following a default in repayment, the bank initiated recovery proceedings against the secured property and subsequently sold it through an e-auction.

The auction was held on June 30, 2022, and the property was sold to Lilly Jose for ₹2,00,10,000. The sale certificate states that the property and its possession were transferred to the purchaser.

According to the property schedule in the SBI sale certificate, the property comprises 14.67 ares, or approximately 36.25 cents, of land, along with a building having a covered area of 4.55 ares, or about 4,897 sq ft.

Further inquiries by the Excise Department have brought the identity of the purchaser into focus. According to documents and information examined in connection with the case, Lilly Jose is Augustine’s mother-in-law.

Her husband, KJ Jose, is identified in corporate records as the Managing Director and statutory director of Reporter Broadcasting Company, which owns the Reporter TV channel in Kerala. Anto Augustine is Reporter TV’s Managing Editor and Managing Director, while his brothers Roji Augustine is its chairman and Josekutty Augustine its vice-chairman.

The family connection has become relevant to the inquiry because SBI sold the property to Lilly Jose in 2022, while local body records continued to carry Augustine's name against the building.

Excise officials are also understood to have sought information about the whereabouts of Lilly Jose and her husband following Augustine’s arrest. The couple are staying at their house at Koliyadi near Sulthan Bathery.

Despite SBI handing over the relevant documents following the 2022 auction, Lilly Jose did not take steps to have the change in ownership reflected in the land records at the Sub-Registrar's Office. Consequently, the relevant records continued to carry Augustine’s name.

Located close to the Karappuzha reservoir on the Karappuzha-Kakkavayal road, the property has access to NH 766.

According to the building certificate produced by the Excise Department before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Sulthan Bathery, building No 10/603 at Vazhavatta, Muttil, is recorded in the name of Anto Augustine.

The certificate records the building’s total covered or plinth area as 983 sq metres, or approximately 10,581 sq ft.

Muttil panchayat’s building tax records also carry Augustine’s name for the 2025-26 financial year. A receipt examined in connection with the case records a payment of ₹8,472 on March 18, 2026.

While the defence relies on the 2022 SBI sale certificate to argue that Augustine had ceased to own or possess the property, the local body records continued to carry his name years after the auction.

The crucial questions are whether the property was subsequently mutated in the purchaser's name, who had possession of it after the auction, and whether Augustine continued to exercise possession or control over the premises.

The Excise Department is examining these records and other evidence to establish Augustine’s connection with the property when the liquor was seized.

According to the Excise Department’s custody application, the seizure included 43.850 litres of Foreign Made Foreign Liquor (FMFL), 1.244 litres of Foreign Made Foreign Wine, 6.250 litres of KSBC wine, 750ml of IMFL marked for military or canteen use, and 12.750 litres of an alcoholic liquid.

The department is investigating the source of the liquor and whether some of it was procured during foreign trips or through other channels.

The property has consequently become central to two interconnected questions: who legally owned Moongananiyil House at the time of the seizure, and who was in possession and control of it?

The defence maintains that the 2022 SBI auction transferred ownership and possession to Lilly Jose and that Augustine cannot be held responsible merely because his name continued to appear in local body records.

The prosecution, meanwhile, is examining the circumstances surrounding the premises, the local body records, and the liquor seizure to establish Augustine's connection with the property and the seized substances.

The SBI sale certificate, registration and mutation records, panchayat building and tax records, occupancy change application, and evidence of actual possession after the 2022 auction could prove crucial in determining who owned, possessed, and controlled Moongananiyil House when the Excise Department conducted its search.