Supreme Court was about to take a decision regarding IAS Sriram. IAS official Sriram Venkitaraman who was accused of driving in a drunk condition and causing the death of journalist KM Basheer in Thiruvananthapuram last year has been granted bail by the Vanchiyoor court on Monday. He has missed several court hearings earlier, but on Monday, both Sriram and the second involved Wafa Firoz were available for the hearing at the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court. The case will have its next hearing on October 27. Sriram has urged access to CCTV visuals and other evidence related to the case, which the court will consider in the next hearing.
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It was during the wee hours of August 3 last year that the car in which Sriram and Wafa were present slammed into Basheer’s bike near the Museum in Thiruvananthapuram. Basheer, who was bureau chief at Siraj Daily, died on the way to the hospital while Sriram’s blood test to check for alcohol content was delayed by several hours. He had later admitted himself to a private hospital.
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The charge sheet in the case was registered on February 1 this year, nearly six months after the accident. Sriram was termed as the first accused and Wafa, who was in the car with him on the night of the accident, was named the second accused. There were 100 witnesses and 75 materials of evidence listed in the charge sheet. The case has since been called for hearing thrice, and Sriram failed to appear all three times. Last week, the court ordered the accused to appear before it on October 12.