Kochi’s legal world lost a polarizing figure on April 30, when Biju Antony Aloor, better known as BA Aloor, died at 62. The criminal lawyer, whose name became synonymous with Kerala’s most gut-wrenching cases, passed away at Lisie Hospital in Ernakulam, where he’d been battling kidney disease. Aloor wasn’t just a lawyer; he was a lightning rod, diving headfirst into cases that made headlines and sparked street protests.
Hailing from Erumapetty in Thrissur, Aloor built a career on defending the indefensible. He shot to notoriety in 2011, representing Govindachamy, the man convicted of raping and murdering 23-year-old Soumya on a moving train. The case gripped Kerala, and Aloor’s role—standing up for a beggar-turned-killer—drew both awe and outrage. He didn’t stop there. Aloor took on the defense in the Jisha murder case, a brutal 2016 killing in Perumbavoor, and the Koodathayi cyanide killings, where Jolly Joseph was accused of poisoning six family members. He also represented the accused in the Elanthoor human sacrifice case and the Vismaya dowry death, cementing his reputation as the go-to lawyer for Kerala’s darkest legal battles.
Aloor wasn’t a suit-and-tie stereotype. Unmarried, living with siblings in Thrissur, he had a gritty, almost defiant air. He started practicing law in 1999 after studying in Pune, quickly carving a niche in criminal defense. His courtroom tactics were sharp, often turning public sentiment into a sideshow. In the Soumya case, he pulled off a coup: while the Kerala High Court upheld Govindachamy’s death sentence, Aloor’s arguments in the Supreme Court got it commuted to life imprisonment. That kind of result made him a hero to some, a villain to others.
His career wasn’t without shadows. In 2023, Aloor faced allegations of sexually assaulting a minor who visited his office with her mother. The Ernakulam Central police filed a case under the POCSO Act, but Aloor secured pre-arrest bail in April 2024, claiming the accusations were fabricated. Earlier, in 2022, the Bar Council of Kerala issued a notice to Aloor and five associates for alleged courtroom misconduct during a bail hearing, accusing them of stirring drama that disrupted proceedings.
Aloor’s death marks the end of a chapter in Kerala’s legal saga. His funeral was held on April 30 at his Thrissur home. The lawyer who thrived on controversy—defending clients others wouldn’t touch—leaves behind a legacy as complex as the cases he fought. He was 62, a bachelor, and had been in and out of treatment for kidney issues before his final days at Lisie Hospital.