The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed Kerala IAS officer Sreeram Venkittaraman’s petition challenging the Kerala High Court’s order which resorted culpable homicide charge against him in the 2019 drunken driving case which led to the killing of a journalist named KM Basheer. The bench comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Kumar refused to interfere with the High Court’s order, but clarified that the observations made by the High Court are limited only to the criminal revision and won’t prejudice the trial.
Background:
In 2019, a journalist K.M. Basheer was allegedly killed when a vehicle driven by Venkittaraman, ran over him at high speed, at Museum Junction in Thiruvananthapuram District of Kerala. It was alleged that Venkittaraman, who was accompanied by Wafa Firoz, was in an inebriated state, which led to the accident. Initially, he attempted to wriggle out of the situation by alleging that he was not driving and that the driver was a lady seated beside him. However, eyewitnesses identified a male as the person behind the wheels.
High Court’s Observations:
The Kerala High Court had set aside a Sessions Court order dropping culpable homicide charges against Venkitaraman in the road rage case. The High Court observed that driving vehicles after consuming alcohol can lead to impairment of cognitive faculties, which can result in errors in judgment and road accidents. The High Court found the attribution of knowledge to the driver that death could be a likely consequence of drunken driving as legally tenable. The High Court also noted that there was the smell of alcohol on Venkittaraman, but he was not subjected to a blood test until 10.30 am, by which time the presence of alcohol was not detected.
Supreme Court’s Decision:
The Supreme Court upheld the Kerala High Court’s order and refused to interfere with the charges against Venkittaraman. The bench clarified that the High Court’s observations are limited to the criminal revision and will not prejudice the trial.
Implications:
The dismissal of Venkittaraman’s petition by the Supreme Court means that he will have to face the culpable homicide charge in the 2019 drunken driving case that resulted in the death of journalist KM Basheer. The case will now proceed to trial, where the evidence will be examined and a final decision will be reached.
Summary:
★The Supreme Court dismissed Kerala IAS officer Sreeram Venkittaraman’s petition challenging the Kerala High Court’s order.
★The High Court had resorted culpable homicide charge against Venkittaraman in the 2019 drunken driving case that led to the killing of journalist KM Basheer.
★The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s order and clarified that the observations made will not prejudice the trial.
★Venkittaraman will now face the culpable homicide charge in the trial.
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