Case registered against Anto Augustine over allegations concerning ‘Keralam Chief Minister’s second marriage’

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The Kerala Police on Wednesday registered a case against Reporter TV managing director Anto Augustine over allegations that Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan had entered into a second marriage while his existing marriage was subsisting.

Mr. Augustine has been named the first accused in the case registered by the Cyber Crime Police, Thiruvananthapuram City, based on a complaint filed by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson Raju P. Nair.

The FIR, registered as a Zero FIR, invokes Sections 336(4) (forgery intended to harm reputation), 337 (forgery of a public record or register), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 356(3) (defamation), 340(2) (using a forged document as genuine) and 339 (possession of a forged public document, knowing it to be forged) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

The FIR alleges that Mr. Augustine and two unidentified persons conspired to defame the Chief Minister in public by circulating and retaining documents which they allegedly knew to be fabricated. The case was registered following a directive from the State Police Chief, official sources said.

The alleged information pertained to a claim that Mr. Satheesan had registered another marriage with a woman at Byndoor in Karnataka on October 17, 2012, after issuing the mandatory 30-day notice, despite his existing marriage remaining legally valid, the FIR stated.

The FIR added that copies of the purported marriage registration certificate and the statutory notice from the Byndoor Sub-Registrar’s Office were allegedly handed over to Mr. Augustine by the second and third accused. It also records the allegation that the documents remain in his possession.

Sources indicated that the case is likely to be transferred to the Kochi City Police, considering that the alleged place of occurrence of the controversial remarks made by Mr. Augustine is in Kalamassery.

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