THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Finance department joint secretary Sriram Venkitaraman, who is facing trial in a case of alcohol-impaired driving that caused the death of journalist K M Basheer, appeared in person before the Additional Sessions and District Court on Friday.
The court read out the chargesheet to the IAS officer, who was sternly told to appear in person by the court when the case was heard last time. The next hearing has been slated for September 6.
Sriram denied committing the offence for which he was charged following which the court ordered the trial to commence.
The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against Sriram will stand, paving way for his trial in the lower court.
Sriram had approached the apex court against the High Court order which stayed the lower court’s decision to drop the charge against him.
The SC dismissed the appeal after adopting a stand that the question of whether the charge was maintainable could only be judged during the trial.
Basheer, who was the bureau chief of the vernacular daily ‘Siraj’, was killed after a car driven by Sriram knocked him off his two-wheeler near the museum in the city on August 3, 2019. Sriram was allegedly drunk when the incident took place. He was accused of destroying evidence of him being in an inebriated state by wilfully delaying undergoing a medical test.
The court has framed the following charges - IPC 279 (rash driving), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder ), 201 (destruction of evidence) and Motor V vehicle Act 184 (dangerous driving) - against Sriram.