Reporter TV Managing Editor Anto Augustine denied bail in alcohol seizure case

Anto Augustine, the Managing Editor of Reporter TV, who was arrested by Excise officials on Wednesday (September 16, 2026) for possessing alcohol beyond permissible limits, was denied bail by a trial court on Friday (September 18).

Adheena Biju, the Judicial First Class Magistrate-I, Sulthan Bathery, denied Mr. Augustine bail after concluding that he was not entitled to the discretionary relief of bail at the present stage of the investigation.

The court accepted the arguments of the Assistant Public Prosecutor T. Abul Hassan that the investigation was only at its nascent stage. The court said it was not inclined to release the accused on bail, considering the nature and quantity of the alleged recovery of alcohol, the stage of investigation, the criminal antecedents attributed to the petitioner and the other circumstances emerging from the case records.

The materials presently available before the court disclosed a prima facie basis to indicate that the building from which alcohol was seized was in the possession of the petitioner. There was prima facie indication regarding his possible dominion or control over the contraband allegedly recovered from the house, the court held.

Incidentally, the Kalpetta Excise Circle Inspector allegedly found 43.850 litres of Foreign Made Foreign Liquor, 1.224 litres of Foreign Made Foreign Wine, 6.250 litres of KSBC wine, 750 ml of Indian Made Foreign Liquor stated to have been purchased from the canteen, and 12.750 litres of liquid containing alcohol from the house allegedly belonging to Mr. Augustine, which is situated in the Karappuzha area within Muttill Grama Panchayat, Wayanad.

The recovery was made during an investigation by a Special Investigation team which was probing the alleged sports scam where the Reporter Broadcasting Company, which runs the Reporter TV, had promised to bring the Argentina team led by its former captain Lionel Messi to Kochi to play a friendly match .

Police officials had conducted simultaneous search operations at the house of Mr. Augustine and the office of the Reporter Broadcasting Company on September 16. While Mr. Augustine was arraigned as the first accused in the scam, the broadcasting company was listed as the second accused in the case.

The counsel for Mr. Augustine had argued that the house from which alcohol was allegedly seized didn’t belong to him.

However, the court held that the alleged recovery was made from “residential premises, and the precise connection of the petitioner with the premises and the seized articles, the source and intended destination of the liquor, the nature of the alleged liquid, the statements of the occupants and other witnesses, and the surrounding circumstances of the recovery are matters which may require further investigation.” In such circumstances, the court cannot conclude that the detention of the petitioner was wholly unnecessary, the court held.