The Kerala High Court today granted bail to Anto Augustine, managing director of a private Malayalam news channel, in a Abkari case following the seizure of liquor bottles above the permissible limit from his ancestral house in Wayanad.

Justice Kauser Edappagath, while granting the relief to Augustine -- the managing director of Reporter Broadcasting Company (RBC) -- said that he was not an accused in any other similar case involving Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) currently or in the past.

Justice Edappagath said that he has been granting bail in all IMFL cases unless the accused has more than one case against them or has past antecedents of committing similar crimes.

The High Court said that since it was the first such case against Augustine, he can be granted relief.

It also brushed aside the contention of the Director General of Prosecution (DGP) T Asaf Ali that the RBC MD was a man of "money and might", saying "that does not matter".

The DGP also told the court that Augustine was not answering queries of the police and was not cooperating with the probe.

The High Court said that the accused need not answer all the queries of the police and that conditions can be imposed on him to appear before the investigating officer and to cooperate with the probe.

It also noted that the RBC MD was given in police custody for a day and that recovery of the liquor has been effected.

Augustine was arrested on September 17 after a Special Investigation Team, formed to probe alleged irregularities in a failed football event sponsored by the company, found liquor bottles at his ancestral house.

The SIT handed over the seized liquor to the Excise Department, which subsequently registered a case and arrested Augustine.

The vigilance court had last Friday dismissed his bail petition.



With PTI Inputs

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