‘Culpable Homicide’; HC upholds charges against Sriram Venkitaraman

In the controversial drunken driving Culpable Homicide case against IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, the High Court rejects the lower court’s ruling to drop charges. The court upheld the charges by emphasizing that Venkitaraman was driving at an excessive speed during the accident.

The incident happened in 2019. KM Basheer, bureau chief of a vernacular daily, died after a car allegedly driven by Sriram Venkitaraman rammed into his bike in Thiruvananthapuram in the late hours of August 3, 2019. Despite the allegations, Venkitaraman denied the claims and said he was not drunk at the time of the incident.

He highlighted that the medical report presented by the investigation team does not show any evidence of alcohol in his body. The around 70-page charge sheet was filed before the Judicial First Class Magistrate court here by the Special Investigation Team of the Crime Branch, which probed the case. The charge sheet has listed 100 witnesses and submitted 75 materials of evidence.