Messi visit row: Court postpones order on Anto Augustine’s anticipatory bail plea to September 26

The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court has postponed to Saturday (September 26, 2026) its order on the anticipatory bail plea moved by Reporter TV Managing Director Anto Augustine in the case related to the alleged multi-crore fraud behind the failed bid to bring the Argentina football team, led by Lionel Messi, to Keralam.

Having concluded arguments from both sides on Thursday, the court had reserved its order for Friday. However, the prosecution sought copies of the documents submitted by the defence along with the anticipatory bail application, following which the order was postponed.

Mr. Augustine moved the application anticipating imminent move to arrest him after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case carried out search operations at the headquarters of Reporter Broadcasting Private Limited and locations linked to him and his brothers last week. Incidentally, he was arrested and remanded to judicial custody in an Abkari case registered by the Excise after 67 litres of liquor, beyond the permissible limit, were seized from his ancestral home in Wayanad. He has since secured bail from the High Court.

However, the prosecution informed the court that the SIT has no immediate plans to arrest him other than to summon him for interrogation. But the prosecution strongly opposed returning $6,200 (in dollars) seized by the SIT during the search operations, for which Mr. Augustine had moved the court, on the ground that the source of the foreign currency remains to be established and the need for forensic accounting.

Mr. Augustine has also moved the court for anticipatory bail in another case registered based on his allegations that Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan had entered into a second marriage while his existing marriage was subsisting.

The case was originally registered by the Cyber Crime Police, Thiruvananthapuram City, based on a complaint filed by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson Raju P. Nair. It was since then transferred to the Kochi City Police, considering that the alleged place of occurrence of the controversial remarks made by Mr. Augustine was Kalamassery. That petition is likely to come up before the court on September 26.