The Supreme Court on Monday, April 27, dismissed a petition filed by former Kerala minister Antony Raju seeking suspension of his conviction in the evidence tampering case.
A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed the special leave petition against the Kerala High Court judgement which refused to suspend his conviction in the case.
In January, the Nedumangad Magistrate Court had sentenced Raju for three years in prison for tampering with evidence in a 1990 narcotics case. Following the order, Raju, an MLA representing Thiruvananthapuram constituency, was disqualified. He also became ineligible to contest the 2026 Assembly election, where he was set to contest again as a candidate of the Janadhipatya Kerala Congress, a constituent of the Left Democratic Front. Raju had served as the minister of transport under the LDF rule for two years from 2021.
The case dates back to the 1990s when Raju, then a junior advocate, helped an Australian national get acquitted in a narcotics case. As per the case, an underwear in which the accused hid the narcotic substance was tampered with. The lawyers then proved in the court that the underwear did not fit the accused, resulting in his acquittal.
Following an investigation, a case of evidence tampering was registered, with court staff member KS Jose as the first accused and Raju as the second. Though the case dragged on for years, Raju was finally found guilty and convicted in January this year. Though he filed a plea in the Kerala High Court in March, the court refused to stay the order.
Raju had also sought the Supreme Court to expunge certain remarks made by the High Court against him. Though he argued that the remark would harm his chances of getting bail, the SC dismissed it.