Former Kerala minister Antony Raju, a member of the ruling LDF, now stands disqualified as a legislator and faces the prospect of being banned from contesting elections for years. This follows his conviction for tampering with evidence in a 35-year-old narcotics case in which he was on the legal team defending the accused. He was sentenced to three years in jail, which means he is disqualified as an MLA under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act. This is a moral blow that the CPI(M)-led LDF, reeling under the impact of the shocking setback in the recent local body elections, will have to contend with as it prepares for the assembly elections due in a couple of months.
The case dates back to 1990 when an Australian citizen, Andrew Salvatore Cervelli, was arrested for smuggling a narcotic substance hidden in his underwear. The piece of clothing, naturally, became material evidence. After being convicted, Cervelli approached the Kerala High Court, which in 1991 acquitted him after finding that the underwear produced as evidence was too small to fit him. A probe revealed that the clothing had been cut and re-stitched to make it smaller. It was also revealed that Raju, a lawyer for the accused, had taken the underwear from the court’s custody with the connivance of a court clerk and returned it. Subsequently, Raju and the clerk were booked and charged.
The case, while underlining the deterioration of ethical standards and principles in political life, also exposes abuse of the judicial process. The verdict has come 31 long years after the evidence tampering case was registered and 19 years after the charges were filed. During the time he was dodging justice, Raju became a legislator twice and also served as a minister, handling the important transport portfolio in the second Pinarayi Vijayan government, before being replaced mid-term as part of an internal alliance deal. Raju’s conviction establishes the disturbing fact that a man caught smuggling contraband has escaped punishment because some people were able to efficiently meddle with evidence on his behalf. The long arm of the law has caught up with Raju at last, but the long delay diminishes both the scale and scope of his punishment. The case emphasises the need for urgent intervention to fix the cracks in the criminal justice system.