IAS officer must face culpable homicide trial for road accident that killed journalist: Kerala high court
Setting aside a sessions court order that dropped the charge under section 304 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Venkitaraman last year, a single bench of justice Bechhu Kurian Thomas said: “Prima facie, it is assumed that that the first accused was overspeeding and was driving the vehicle after consuming alcohol and had even caused destruction of evidence relating to the offence.”
The Kerala high court on Thursday said Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Sriram Venkitaraman should be tried for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in a 2019 accident case that led to the death of a journalist in Thiruvananthapuram.
Setting aside a sessions court order that dropped the charge under section 304 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Venkitaraman last year, a single bench of justice Bechhu Kurian Thomas said: “Prima facie, it is assumed that that the first accused was overspeeding and was driving the vehicle after consuming alcohol and had even caused destruction of evidence relating to the offence.”
Venkitaraman was allegedly in an inebriated condition when he was driving a vehicle that knocked down journalist K M Basheer, killing him on the spot. Wafa Firoze, Venkitaraman’s friend to whom the vehicle belonged, was travelling with Venkitaraman at the time of the accident. On Thursday, the high court discharged her from the case.
Last year, the sessions court in Thiruvananthapuram dropped the charge of culpable homicide against the two accused but maintained that the remaining sections – 304 A (causing death by negligence) and 279 (rash driving ) of IPC and section 184 (reckless driving) of Motor Vehicles Act – would stay. The state government later filed a criminal revision petition in the high court against the verdict of the sessions court.
The bench observed that the absence of a medical report on the level of intoxication cannot be a reason to drop section 304 of IPC if there are other materials available to arrive at the conclusion that the accused was driving the vehicle in a drunken state.
{{/usCountry}}The bench observed that the absence of a medical report on the level of intoxication cannot be a reason to drop section 304 of IPC if there are other materials available to arrive at the conclusion that the accused was driving the vehicle in a drunken state.
{{/usCountry}}“After being referred to the medical college hospital, the first accused could not have gone to a private hospital contrary to the reference unless he wanted to cause the disappearance of evidence of the alleged offence,” the bench said.
{{/usCountry}}“After being referred to the medical college hospital, the first accused could not have gone to a private hospital contrary to the reference unless he wanted to cause the disappearance of evidence of the alleged offence,” the bench said.
{{/usCountry}}While discharging Firoze from the case, the court said there was no material evidence to indicate that she intentionally aided or instigated the first accused to commit the offence.
{{/usCountry}}While discharging Firoze from the case, the court said there was no material evidence to indicate that she intentionally aided or instigated the first accused to commit the offence.
{{/usCountry}}In its appeal, the state government said that after the accident, Venkitaraman delayed his treatment and blood sample check after he was rushed to a general hospital. Doctors at the hospital referred him to the medical college hospital but he refused to go and got himself admitted to a private hospital.
{{/usCountry}}In its appeal, the state government said that after the accident, Venkitaraman delayed his treatment and blood sample check after he was rushed to a general hospital. Doctors at the hospital referred him to the medical college hospital but he refused to go and got himself admitted to a private hospital.
{{/usCountry}}The government also said that several witnesses in the case said the IAS officer was drunk at the time of the incident and deliberately delayed his medical examination. His blood sample was reportedly taken 10 hours after the accident, it said.
Venkitaraman was arrested nearly 17 hours after the accident. He was later granted bail and was also suspended from service but reinstated a year later.
The IAS officer, who ranked second in the civil service examinations in 2013, was once seen as a hero of the state after he demolished a number of encroachments in the hill station of Munnar and locked horns with many influential people and politicians. His image suffered a beating after the accident. He is currentlymanaging director of the civil supplies corporation.
Journalists in the state have alleged that the bureaucratic lobby played a key role in shielding Venkitaraman and weakening the case. Last year, Basheer’s brother filed a petition in the high court, seeking a probe by a central agency into his death.
