Venkitaraman, when he was taking charge as District Collector of Alappuzha. He was soon removed from the post following public protests.(Supplied)
Prime accused in the car crash case that killed Malayalam journalist KM Basheer, IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman received major relief on Wednesday, 19 October — a court in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram dropped the culpable homicide charge slapped against him.
The court also dropped the culpable homicide charge imposed on Wafa Firoz, Venkitaraman’s friend who was with him on the fateful night in August 2019 when their car rammed into Basheer, killing him.
The additional district and sessions court dropped Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of the commission of the offence) slapped against the two accused by the police.
It has also dropped Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act and Section 3(1)(2) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act charges against them.
The court has framed charges against Venkitaraman under IPC Sections 279 (rash driving) and 304 (A) (causing death by negligence).
Siraj newspaper journalist KM Basheer. (Supplied)
It has also ordered that the charges under Section 184 of the Motor Vehicle Act remain in force.
Observing that only a magistrate court could conduct a trial in such a case, the judge transferred it to the court of judicial first class magistrate II in Thiruvananthapuram.
The judge was considering the discharge petition filed by the duo, and he observed that both must face trial.
According to legal experts, crimes under Section 304 could be punished with imprisonment of up to 10 years. However, Section 304 (A) will fetch a maximum of two years imprisonment.
The trial court will consider the case on 20 November.
In the court, both Venkitaraman and Firoz contended that they were wrongly charged, so their discharge petition under the Criminal Procedure Code of 1973 needs to be allowed.
Their lawyers argued that, normally, such charges are applied in warrant cases of severe crimes that are punishable by either death or imprisonment for more than two years.
However, the prosecution maintained that reckless driving under the influence of alcohol resulted in Basheer’s untimely death, then Thiruvananthapuram bureau chief of the Malayalam daily Siraj.
In the court, Venkataraman claimed that there was no evidence that he was drunk. The prosecution countered the claim saying that medical doctor-turned-civil service officer allowed the police to collect his blood sample for examination only nine hours after the accident.
The prosecution also told the court that the IAS officer refused to be admitted at a government hospital as demanded by the police. He was admitted to a private hospital.
The prosecution told the court that his arrest was recorded about 17 hours after the incident. The prosecution had also produced witnesses who testified that Venkataraman was indeed drunk.
However, Venkitaraman’s lawyers argued that it was just an accidental death. The blood samples collected had no trace of alcohol, they claimed.
On 3 August, 2019, Venkitaraman’s friends had organised a cocktail party in his honour at a guest house for civil service officers in the tony Kowdiar area of Thiruvananthapuram.
After the party, Venkitaraman and a friend, Wafa Firoz, are said to have driven off while under the influence of alcohol.
Their speeding car lost control and hit the two-wheeler on which Basheer was returning home, resulting in the death of the journalist.
The accident and a subsequent police probe had led to widespread resentment against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government, which allegedly took stand favouring Venkitaraman. The charge sheet against him has listed 100 witnesses and submitted 75 items of evidence.
The journalists union and Basheer’s family accused the government of conducting a botched probe.
Sriram Venkitaraman taking charge as Alapuzha district collector. (South First)
Though suspended from service after the incident, he was reinstated in March 2020 and held the post of joint secretary in the Department of Health and Social Justice, much to the public’s chagrin.
His recent appointment as district collector of Alappuzha invited massive criticism, and within a week, he was transferred and appointed as head of the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation.
When reports emerged that Venkitaraman was engaged in destroying evidence against him, the chief minister said the state government would not let him go scot-free. Vijayan said the rule of law would prevail, and Basheer would get justice.
On his part, Venkitaraman maintained that he was suffering from retrograde amnesia — a form of memory loss that the trauma of the accident might have caused.
Intense pressure from journalists, human-rights activists, and the general public forced the state police to charge him with culpable homicide, amounting to murder, rash and negligent driving, drunk driving, and destroying evidence.
Now, the government is facing criticism for its failures in the investigation, which forced the court to drop such charges.
Kerala Opposition leader VD Satheesan said the court’s dropping of the severe charges had facilitated a situation in which Venkitaraman could easily absolve him from the rest of the charges during the trial.
“The government and its police are responsible for this. Basheer needs justice, and a collective effort must be initiated to ensure justice,” he said.
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