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yesterday

Kerala MLA Antony Raju Disqualified After Conviction for Evidence Tampering in 1990 Drug Case

The Assembly secretariat declared his seat vacant from January 3 following a three-year sentence issued by a Nedumangad magistrate.

Antony Raju stand disqualified as Kerala MLA as of January 3. (Image: Facebook)
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Overview

  • The Secretariat said the Thiruvananthapuram Assembly seat stands vacant with effect from January 3, 2026, the day Raju was sentenced to three years of simple imprisonment.
  • The conviction centers on tampering of an undergarment identified as crucial evidence in a 1990 airport seizure of 61.5 grams of hashish from an Australian national, whom Raju represented as a junior lawyer.
  • Former court clerk K S Jose was also found guilty under erstwhile IPC provisions including criminal conspiracy and disappearance of evidence and received a one-year prison term.
  • The magistrate rejected a prosecution request to transfer sentencing to a higher court and granted Raju bail to enable him to file an appeal.
  • The case was registered in 2005 after a vigilance probe, quashed by the Kerala High Court in 2023, restored by the Supreme Court in 2024 with a one-year trial directive, and the trial examined 29 witnesses.