Kerala journo death case: HC stays order discharging Sreeram Venkitaraman of culpable homicide

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday stayed a lower court order discharging IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, from charges of culpable homicide in relation with the journalist KM Basheer's death case.

The order by the Thiruvananthapuram sessions court was stayed for a period of two months by Justice Ziyad Rahman, on accepting a criminal revision petition filed by the state government. Further, the court issued a notice to the IAS officer and his friend Wafa Firoz, who is the owner of the vehicle involved as well as the person present inside the vehicle during the accident. She was charged with abetting the officer to drive the car rashly.

Venkitaraman was drunk while driving the car and fatally knocked down the journalist in Thiruvananthapuram in August 2019.

The charges under section 304 of the IPC, which deals with culpable homicide was dropped by the session's court, though the other charges that was pressed against him including Sections 304a (causing death by negligence) and 279 (rash and negligent driving) was held standing.

Venkitaraman, a doctor himself, allowed police to collect his blood sample for examination nine hours after the mishap and after getting himself admitted to a private hospital. His arrest was recorded nearly 17 hours later. He was later suspended from service and his driving licence cancelled. Venkitaraman, suspended two days after the incident, was reinstated in March 2020 and appointed as Joint Secretary- Health.

Later in July this year, he was appointed as the Alappuzha Collector, but was removed due to criticism from the public and political parties. He is currently appointed as the general manager of Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited.

-PTI