Evidence tampering case: Antony Raju disqualified as MLA

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Advocate Antony Raju, who was found guilty in the evidence tampering case, has been disqualified from his post as MLA. The Legislative Assembly Secretariat has issued a notification in this regard. Antony Raju has been sentenced to three years in prison and has also been barred from contesting elections for the next six years. He was the MLA from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency.

The court has granted bail to Antony Raju. Since the sentence is less than seven years, the court granted him bail until the appeal is decided. During this period, he can approach the court and seek a stay on the verdict. If a stay is not obtained, he will have serve the jail term.

It was the Nedumangad Judicial First Class Magistrate Court that sentenced Antony Raju to three years of imprisonment. As per a Supreme Court ruling, any elected representative convicted and sentenced to more than two years in prison stands disqualified. Based on this, Antony Raju lost his MLA position.

The verdict is related to an incident that happened 34 years ago. Sections 409, 120B, 420, 201, 193, 34, 217, and 465 were proved against Antony Raju. The case alleges that evidence (the underwear seized as a material object) was tampered with to help an Australian citizen, Andrew Salvador Servalli, who was caught with 60 grams of hashish at Thiruvananthapuram airport on April 4, 1990. At that time, Antony Raju was a lawyer at the Thiruvananthapuram Vanchiyoor court and had taken up Andrew’s case along with his senior advocate, Celine Wilfred.