Augustine was arrested by the Excise department on September 17, a day after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kerala Police searched his offices and residences.
The search was conducted as part of a probe into alleged financial irregularities connected with the failed attempt to bring the Argentinian national team and footballer Lionel Messi to Kerala for which Augustine’s Reporter Broadcasting Company was the main commercial sponsor.
During a raid at his family home in Wayanad, authorities recovered roughly 67 litres of foreign liquor and wine, which exceeds the legally permissible limit for personal possession.
The Excise Department arrested Augustine in the early hours of September 17.
He was booked under Sections 55(i), 55(a) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act, which penalise illegal import, export, transport, sale, and illicit possession of liquor or intoxicating drugs.
His bail application was dismissed by a magistrate court on September 18, following which he approached the High Court.
In his bail plea, Augustine argued that the property from which the liquor was seized was sold during a bank auction in 2022, and was no longer in his possession.