Ernakulam court defers order on Anto Augustine's anticipatory bail plea to September 26

The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court has put off to Saturday, September 26, 2026, its ruling on the anticipatory bail application filed by Anto Augustine, Managing Director of Reporter TV, in connection with the alleged multi-crore fraud surrounding a failed attempt to bring the Argentina national football team, captained by Lionel Messi, to Keralam.

Arguments from both sides concluded on Thursday and the court had reserved its order for Friday. The prosecution then sought copies of the documents the defence had filed along with the bail application, prompting the postponement.

Mr. Augustine approached the court apprehending arrest after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case conducted searches last week at the headquarters of Reporter Broadcasting Private Limited and at premises linked to him and his brothers. He was subsequently arrested and remanded to judicial custody in an Abkari case registered by the Excise Department after 67 litres of liquor, exceeding the permitted quantity, were seized from his ancestral home in Wayanad. He has since been granted bail by the High Court.

The prosecution told the court that the SIT has no immediate plans to arrest him and only intends to summon him for interrogation. It, however, strongly opposed the return of $6,200 seized during the searches, a plea moved by Mr. Augustine, arguing that the source of the foreign currency is yet to be established and that forensic accounting is required.

Separately, Mr. Augustine has sought anticipatory bail in another case registered on the basis of his own allegations that Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan entered into a second marriage while his earlier marriage was subsisting. That case was first registered by the Cyber Crime Police, Thiruvananthapuram City, on a complaint by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson Raju P. Nair, and was later transferred to the Kochi City Police after the alleged place of occurrence of the controversial remarks was identified as Kalamassery. The petition is expected to come up before the court on September 26.