Anto Augustine to remain in custody as Kerala High Court denies him bail in alcohol possession case

Though his counsel contended that Anto was no longer in possession of the building from where the liquor was seized, DGP informs the court that Anto had paid tax for the building in March 2026

Updated - September 19, 2026 07:35 pm IST - KOCHI

Anto Augustine, managing editor of Reporter TV, who was arrested by excise officials on Wednesday (September 16, 2026) for possessing alcohol beyond permissible limits, will remain in custody at least till September 22 with the Kerala High Court refusing him bail on Friday.

Justice Kauser Edappagath, the single judge who considered the appeal preferred by Mr. Augustine against the order of the Judicial First Class Magistrate-I, Sulthan Bathery, denying him bail, posted the case for Tuesday (September 22).

Though his counsel contended that the house from which the excise officials had seized the alcohol was already sold as per SARFAESI Act proceedings in 2022 and he was no longer in possession of the building, T. Asaf Ali, Director General of Prosecution, informed the court that Mr. Augustine had paid tax for the building in March 2026.

Mr. Ali also told the court that an application for the police custody of Mr. Augustine, which was moved by the prosecution, will come up for the consideration of the trial court on Saturday. Earlier, the trial court had denied Mr. Augustine bail after concluding that he was not entitled to the discretionary relief of bail at this stage of the investigation.

The court accepted the arguments of Assistant Public Prosecutor T. Abul Hassan that the investigation was only at its nascent stage. The court said it was not inclined to release the accused on bail, considering the nature and quantity of the alleged recovery of alcohol, the stage of investigation, the criminal antecedents attributed to the petitioner and the other circumstances emerging from the case records. The materials available before the court disclosed a prima facie basis to indicate that the building from which alcohol was seized was in the possession of the petitioner. There was prima facie indication regarding his possible dominion or control over the contraband allegedly recovered from the house, the court held.

The Kalpetta Excise Circle Inspector allegedly found 43.850 litres of Foreign Made Foreign Liquor, 1.224 litres of Foreign Made Foreign Wine, 6.250 litres of wine sourced from Bevco, 750 ml of Indian Made Foreign Liquor stated to have been purchased from the canteen, and 12.750 litres of liquid containing alcohol from the house, allegedly belonging to Mr. Augustine, situated at Karappuzha in the Muttill grama panchayat, Wayanad.

The recovery was made during an investigation by a team probing the alleged financial misappropriation in a failed attempt by Reporter Broadcasting Company, which runs the Reporter TV, to bring the Argentine football team led by its former captain Lionel Messi to Kochi to play a friendly match.

The police had conducted simultaneous search operations at the house of Mr. Augustine and the office of the Reporter Broadcasting Company on September 16. While Mr. Augustine was arraigned as the first accused, the company was named the second accused.

Published - September 18, 2026 08:38 pm IST

Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.