Kerala HC grants conditional bail to Reporter TV MD Anto Augustine
Synopsis
Reporter TV MD Anto Augustine secured conditional bail from the Kerala High Court days after his arrest in an excise case involving 65 litres of liquor seized from a Wayanad property — a case that arrived in the shadow of a separate SIT probe into alleged financial irregularities tied to Lionel Messi's proposed Kerala visit, raising uncomfortable questions about the timing of official action against a senior media figure.
Key Takeaways
The Kerala High Court on 22 September 2026 granted conditional bail to Anto Augustine , MD of Reporter Broadcasting Company .
Augustine was arrested after excise officials seized approximately 65 litres of liquor and wine from a Wayanad property; the case is registered under the Kerala Abkari Act .
His bail plea was first rejected by the Sulthan Bathery Magistrate Court and interim bail was also denied by the High Court on Friday before Tuesday's order.
The defence argued Augustine had no possession or control of the property, which was sold via a SARFAESI auction in 2022 .
A separate SIT probe into alleged financial irregularities linked to Lionel Messi's proposed Kerala visit preceded the excise arrest, fuelling debate over the sequence of official actions.
Both the excise case and the financial irregularities investigation are ongoing.
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, granted conditional bail to Anto Augustine, Managing Director of Reporter Broadcasting Company, in a case registered by the Excise Department following the seizure of approximately 65 litres of liquor and wine from a property in Wayanad. The order comes after Augustine spent several days in judicial custody following his arrest last Thursday.
Background and Arrest
Augustine was arrested from the Reporter TV office at Kalamassery after excise officials conducted a search at a property in Wayanad and seized the liquor. The case has been registered under Sections 55(a), 55(i) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act. His initial bail application was rejected by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Sulthan Bathery, prompting him to move the High Court. The court had also declined interim bail on Friday before scheduling a detailed hearing that ultimately resulted in the conditional bail order on Tuesday.
Defence Arguments
During the hearings, Augustine's counsel argued that he neither possessed nor controlled the property from which the liquor was allegedly recovered. The defence contended that the property had been mortgaged to the State Bank of India (SBI) and was subsequently sold through a SARFAESI auction in 2022. Lawyers also maintained that Augustine was not present at the premises during the search and questioned the applicability of the Abkari Act sections invoked against him.
The Messi-Kerala Football Probe Connection
The excise case is legally distinct from a separate, ongoing police investigation into alleged financial irregularities linked to the proposed visit of football star Lionel Messi and the Argentina national football team to Kerala. Shortly before the excise case was registered, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala Police had conducted searches at the offices of Reporter Broadcasting Company and at properties associated with Augustine and his brothers, seizing documents and records. The proximity in timing between the SIT searches and Augustine's arrest in the excise case triggered debate and raised questions about the sequence of official action against the head of the media organisation.
Augustine's Position and What Comes Next
Augustine has denied the allegations in the liquor case and has stated that he cooperated with investigators in the football-event financial probe. With the High Court's order now in place, he will be released from custody subject to the conditions imposed by the court. Investigations in both the excise case and the financial irregularities probe are reported to be continuing simultaneously. The case will be closely watched for its implications on press freedom concerns that some quarters have raised regarding the timing of the action against a senior media executive.
Point of View
But the deeper story here is the optics: a media organisation's chief executive is arrested in an excise case days after an SIT sweeps his offices in a separate financial probe. Courts will weigh the merits of each case independently, but the sequencing deserves scrutiny. The defence's SARFAESI argument — that the property was auctioned off in 2022 and was never in Augustine's control — is legally material and could unravel the excise charge if it holds. The Messi-Kerala episode itself remains murky on the financial accountability trail, and any perception that the excise case is instrumentalised will cast a long shadow over both investigations.
NationPress
22 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Anto Augustine arrested?
Anto Augustine was arrested after the Kerala Excise Department seized approximately 65 litres of liquor and wine from a property in Wayanad. The case was registered against him under Sections 55(a), 55(i) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act.
What did the Kerala High Court decide on 22 September 2026?
The Kerala High Court granted conditional bail to Augustine on 22 September 2026, allowing him to be released from judicial custody subject to court-imposed conditions. His earlier bail application had been rejected by the Sulthan Bathery Magistrate Court and interim bail had also been denied by the High Court on Friday.
What is the SARFAESI argument raised by the defence?
Augustine's lawyers argued that the Wayanad property from which the liquor was seized had been mortgaged to the State Bank of India and subsequently sold through a SARFAESI auction in 2022, meaning Augustine had no possession or control over it at the time of the search.
How is this case connected to the Lionel Messi Kerala visit probe?
The excise case is legally separate from an ongoing SIT investigation into alleged financial irregularities linked to the proposed visit of Lionel Messi and the Argentina national football team to Kerala. The SIT had searched Reporter Broadcasting Company offices and properties associated with Augustine shortly before the excise case was registered, raising questions about the timing.
What happens next in both cases?
Investigations in both the excise case and the financial irregularities probe are continuing. Augustine has been released on the High Court's conditional bail, but he remains subject to the ongoing proceedings in both matters. The outcomes will depend on the evidence gathered by the Excise Department and the SIT respectively.
