Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday granted conditional bail to Reporter TV Managing Director Anto Augustine in a case registered under the Kerala Abkari Act following the seizure of liquor allegedly in excess of the permissible limit from a house in Wayanad.

Justice Kauser Edappagath passed the order on Tuesday. The court observed that no further custody of the accused is required since the booty has been recovered. The court has laid down two personal sureties as one of the conditions for the bail. He has also been directed to fully cooperate with the investigation.

Advocate Mohammed Firdouz A V, who appeared for Anto, told Onmanorama that this was a fabricated case and a complaint will be lodged at Kalpetta police station against the Excise officials. 

Augustine was arrested by the Excise Department on September 17, a day after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala Police searched his offices and residences as part of a probe into alleged financial irregularities linked to the failed attempt to bring the Argentine football team and Lionel Messi to Kerala.

The liquor case was registered by the Kalpetta Excise station under Sections 55(a), 55(i) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act.

According to the prosecution, Excise officials recovered 43.850 litres of foreign-made foreign liquor, 1.224 litres of foreign-made foreign wine, 6.250 litres of KSBC wine, 750 ml of Indian-made foreign liquor allegedly purchased from a canteen and 12.750 litres of liquid containing alcohol from the house at Karappuzha in Wayanad's Muttil panchayat.

Augustine's bail plea was earlier dismissed by the Judicial First Class Magistrate-I, Sulthan Bathery. The High Court had also declined to grant him interim bail on Friday and posted the matter for Tuesday after the prosecution said it had sought his custody.

Dispute over ownership of house
A key issue before the High Court was whether Augustine was in possession or control of the property from which the liquor was seized.

Augustine's counsel argued that the property had been sold in a bank auction in 2022 and that he had neither title to nor possession of the building when the liquor was allegedly recovered.

The defence produced a sale certificate issued by the State Bank of India, according to which the property had been mortgaged to the bank as security for a financial facility extended to Asian Motors, Pathadippalam, Edappally, Kochi. Following default in repayment, the bank initiated recovery proceedings under the SARFAESI Act.

The property was sold through an e-auction on June 30, 2022, for ₹2,00,10,000. The sale certificate names Lilly Jose as the purchaser and states that the property and its possession were transferred to her.

The property schedule in the certificate covers 14.67 ares of land, or about 36.25 cents, along with a building with a covered area of 4.55 ares, or around 4,897 sq ft.

The prosecution, however, had disputed the defence's claim that Augustine was no longer in possession of the property. During Friday's hearing, Director General of Prosecution T Asaf Ali submitted that Augustine had paid building tax for the property even in 2026. Justice Kauser questioned whether payment of tax by itself established possession, observing that a property being sold would ordinarily mean that possession followed.

The issue of ownership has also come under scrutiny because Muttil grama panchayat records reportedly continue to show Augustine's name against the building, including in records relating to building tax.

The liquor seizure took place during searches conducted by the SIT on September 16 as part of its investigation into alleged financial irregularities connected with the failed attempt to bring the Argentine national football team and Messi to Kerala. Reporter Broadcasting Company, which runs Reporter TV, was the main commercial sponsor of the proposed event.

Augustine was represented by Senior Counsel S Sreekumar and advocates MP Shameem Ahamed and Mohammed Firdouz AV.