Keralam’s Muttil tree felling cheating case: Court adjourned the charge sheet to September 19
The Chottanikkara First Class Judicial Court in Ernakulam on Friday (September 11, 2026) further adjourned till September 19 the framing of charges against the Augustine brothers in the cheating case linked to the Muttil tree felling scandal in Kerala’s Wayanad.
The adjournment followed a plea by the accused seeking a stay of proceedings till the Kerala High Court delivers its verdict. The High Court on Thursday (September 10, 2026) reserved its verdict and lifted a preliminary injunction that allowed the investigating officer to file a final report within 10 days.
The case is likely to be heard by the High Court on September 18.
Fees
The three accused — Roji Augustine, Jose Kutty Augustine and Anto Augustine — are facing charges in a case registered by the Ambalamed police on a petition filed by MM Aliyar, owner of Malabar Timber Industries, Karimugal, for alleged fraud in the sale of timber from illegally felled trees in 2021.
Earlier on August 24, the court had rejected the plea of the accused to adjourn the proceedings until the forest department submits its final report in the original Muttil tree felling case to which this case is related. The prosecution countered the objection and argued that it was a fraud case registered by the police, different from the tree felling case being pursued by the forest department.
The defendants also challenged the court’s jurisdiction, but their motion was denied.
Meanwhile, the First Class Judicial Court at Sulthan Bathery continues to oversee criminal proceedings and charges related to the illegal felling of protected rosewood trees in Muttil South village.
In July 2026, the Kerala High Court dismissed the release petitions of Jose Kutty and Ant Augustin. The police had initially booked a case under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC. The High Court later quashed the charge under Section 406 but upheld the offense of cheating. According to the charge sheet, the accused defrauded Mr. Aliyar of ₹1.4 million by offering to sell him timber.
The FIR registered on July 13, 2021 states that the brothers collected the amount in installments as advance and sold him 54 pieces of wood from illegally felled trees. The wood was reportedly cut and transported from the Meppadi Forest Range in Wayanad.
The defendants argued in the dismissal motion that no permit was required to transport the timber and that the fees were unsustainable. Mr Aliyar countered that he had been misled into believing that the sale was legal.
The court rejected the objection of the accused, saying that the forest department’s investigation proved that they had no authority to transport or sell the wood.
Jose Kutty, Anto Augustine and Roji Augustine are also the main accused in the alleged large-scale illegal felling and smuggling of protected rosewood and teak trees worth an estimated ₹8 crore from allotted lands in Muttil South, Wayanad, carried out without the sanction of the forest department.
Published – 11 Sep 2026 13:46 IST