THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The additional district and sessions court on Thursday deferred the hearing of an appeal filed by former minister Antony Raju — seeking a suspension of his punishment of three years in jail in evidence tampering case — to September 9.
The Nedumangad Judicial Magistrate Court this January had sentenced Antony to three years rigorous imprisonment in a case whose chargesheet was filed 19 years ago.
Antony is the second accused in the evidence tampering case while former court clerk Jose is the first accused. Antony was sentenced to three years in jail under IPC Section 193 (furnishing false evidence), Section 465 (forgery), and IPC 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy). The case dates back to 1990 when Raju was a junior lawyer appearing in a drug case involving an Australian national.