Muttil tree-felling cheating case: charges framing pushed to September 19

The Chottanikkara Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Ernakulam has adjourned the framing of charges against the Augustine brothers in a cheating case linked to the Muttil tree-felling scandal in Wayanad to September 19, 2026. The matter came up on Friday, September 11.

The postponement came after the accused sought a suspension of proceedings until the Kerala High Court delivers its verdict. On Thursday, September 10, the High Court reserved its judgment and vacated an interim order on the proceedings, clearing the way for the investigating officer to file the final report within ten days. The High Court is expected to take up the case again on September 18.

The three accused — Roji Augustine, Jose Kutty Augustine and Anto Augustine — face charges in a case registered by the Ambalamedu police on a petition filed by M.M. Aliyar, proprietor of Malabar Timber Industries, Karimugal. The complaint alleges fraud in the sale of timber sourced from trees illegally felled in 2021.

Earlier, on August 24, the magistrate court had dismissed a plea by the accused to defer proceedings until the Forest Department submitted its final report in the original Muttil tree-felling case, to which the present matter has been linked. The prosecution opposed the plea, contending that this was a police-registered cheating case, separate from the tree-felling case pursued by the Forest Department. A challenge to the court's jurisdiction was also dismissed.

In July 2026, the High Court dismissed the discharge petitions of Jose Kutty and Anto Augustine. The police had initially booked the case under IPC Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating). The High Court later quashed the charge under Section 406 but upheld the offence of cheating.

According to the prosecution, the accused defrauded Mr. Aliyar of ₹1.4 crore by offering to sell timber. The FIR, registered on July 13, 2021, states that the brothers collected the amount in instalments as advance and sold him 54 pieces of timber from illegally felled trees, allegedly cut and transported from the Meppadi Forest Range in Wayanad.

In their discharge petition, the accused argued that no permit was required to transport the timber and that the charges were unsustainable. Mr. Aliyar countered that he had been misled into believing the sale was lawful. The court rejected the contention, noting that the Forest Department's investigation established that the accused had no authority to transport or sell the timber.

Jose Kutty, Anto Augustine and Roji Augustine are also key accused in the alleged large-scale illegal felling and smuggling of protected rosewood and teak trees worth an estimated ₹8 crore from assigned lands in Muttil South, Wayanad, carried out without the Forest Department's sanction. The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Sulthan Bathery continues to oversee criminal proceedings and charge-sheets related to the illegal felling of protected rosewood trees in Muttil South village.