Antony Raju disqualified; gets bail, time for appeal

JOLT TO LDF | Raju's party is a constituent in the Pinarayi Vijayan govt

- HD Bureau

A magistrate court in Kerala on Saturday convicted Thiruvananthapuram legislator Antony Raju for forging and planting material evidence in a decades-old case linked to a narcotics seizure, delivering a sharp blow to a senior leader of the ruling Left Democratic Front’s ally, the Janathipathya Kerala Congress.

The court handed down three years in jail for Antony Raju, the second accused in the case, and allowed a month's time to seek bail, as the punishment awarded falls below the statutory threshold. But he stands disqualified as an MLA automatically and faces bar for contesting election.

The relief is interim in nature, intended to preserve the appellant’s right to pursue legal remedies while preventing immediate incarceration.