THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The additional district and sessions court will pronounce its verdict on the discharge petition plea filed by IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman in the case pertaining to the accident-death of journalist K M Basheer on Wednesday. The court on Friday held the preliminary hearing of the petition filed by Sriram, who had sought a discharge from the case alleging that the chargesheet filed by the crime branch against him was baseless. Sriram’s argument was that there was no evidence to prove that he was driving under the influence of alcohol when the accident that killed Basheer occurred on August 3, 2019.
The counsel of the 35-year-old argued that he did not show any reluctance in giving his blood sample for lab testing and it was the police that delayed the proceedings. The counsel also argued the police had only instructed the medical officer to conduct a medical examination and did not ask him to submit his blood samples for lab testing. The counsel further said the chemical analysis report of the blood sample revealed there was no trace of alcohol in his blood and hence the charges of destruction of evidence (IPC 201) and drunken-driving (IPC 185) will not stand.
However, the prosecutor said the presence of alcohol in blood could not be proved because the accused deliberately delayed giving the blood sample. The prosecutor argued that the accused, who was a qualified medical doctor, knew that the alcohol content will remain in the blood only up to eight hours. So he deliberately waited and gave permission to draw his blood sample only after that, the prosecutor told the court.
The prosecutor also informed the court that Sriram did not give permission to draw his blood sample when he was present at the General Hospital. Later, claiming that the doctors and the staff of the General Hospital were not good, he demanded to be shifted to a private hospital.
The prosecutor added the duty doctor at the General Hospital had mentioned about the odour of alcohol emanating from Sriram when he was brought for medical examination. The court had earlier heard the discharge plea of the second-accused Wafa Najeem and an order was due on Friday. However, the court later decided to proclaim the verdict in both the cases on Wednesday.