THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a landmark verdict that has sent ripples through Kerala’s political landscape, the Nedumangad Judicial First Class Magistrate Court has found former Minister and sitting MLA Antony Raju guilty in the notorious evidence tampering case. The judgment brings a conclusion to a legal saga that spanned over three and a half decades.
The case dates back to 1990, when an Australian national, Andrew Salvatore Cervelli, was arrested at Thiruvananthapuram airport for smuggling contraband (charas). The primary evidence was a pair of underwear in which the drugs were allegedly hidden.+1
Antony Raju, who was then a junior lawyer representing the accused, was charged with conspiring with a court clerk to retrieve the underwear from court custody and alter its size. By making the garment too small to fit the accused, the defense successfully argued in the High Court that the evidence was planted, leading to the Australian national’s acquittal in 1991.+1
