Will appoint special public prosecutor to conduct trial against Sriram Venkitaraman IAS: State to Kerala HC

A Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) will be appointed to represent the State during the trial in the 2019 rash driving case against IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, the State government told the Kerala High Court on Tuesday [Jaseela C v Sriram Venkitaraman & ors].

The case involves allegations that Venkitaraman recklessly drove his car while under the influence of alcohol and rammed it into a motorcycle driver by journalist KM Basheer, resulting in Basheer’s death.

C Jaseela, Basheer's widow, had recently challenged the transfer of the case from one trial court to another on grounds that Venkitaraman's counsel was unable to climb stairs to access the earlier courtroom.

She had also sought the appointment of a Special Public Prosecutor (SPP), to ensure that the trial will be conducted properly. Her counsel eventually clarified that she is only pressing for the appointment of an SPP and no longer challenging the transfer of trial.

The State today told the Court that it has decided to appoint Advocate A Santosh Kumar as the Special Public Prosecutor in the case.

Since the SPP's appointment is yet to be notified, Justice CS Dias ordered that that trial be deferred for a month's time. The newly appointed special public prosecutor should argue the case on behalf of the government, once the notification is issued, the Court said.

Since the petitioner had not pressed her earlier prayer challenging the transfer of trial, the order for such a transfer was also confirmed.

"The Government has in principle decided to appoint advocate A Santosh Kumar as the Special Public Prosecutor. However, the notification has to be issued in this regard for which there will be some delay...In light of the above submission, confirming Annexure 1 order, I direct the Additional Sessions Court-IV, Thiruvananthapuram, to defer further proceedings in SC 595/2021 by one month from today," the Court said, while closing Jaseela's petition.

The case relates to the death of journalist Basheer after a car driven by Venkitaraman collided with Basheer's motorcycle.

The IAS officer was booked for various offences including rash and negligent driving, causing death by a negligent act, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs under the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act.

The trial in the case began on August 1 this year, seven years after Basheer's death.

However, Basheer's wife questioned the move to have the trial heard by the Additional Sessions Court-IV in Thiruvananthapuram. The trial was transferred to this courtroom on the ground that Venkitaraman's lawyer, senior counsel B Raman Pillai, faced difficulties in accessing the earlier courtroom on the first floor.

In view of this, the trial was transferred to a courtroom on the first floor of the court complex, considering Pillai's health-related difficulties and his inconvenience in conducting the cross examination through an online platform.

Jaseela challenged such a transfer of the trial in her plea before the Hogh Court. The petition also raised concerns regarding the conduct of the prosecution, citing changes in prosecutors and repeated adjournments.

She expressed apprehension that the prosecution may not be conducted effectively without an experienced prosecutor at the helm, as the case involved, nearly a hundred witnesses and a substantial number of exhibits.

The Court has now closed her petition in view of the State's decision to appoint an SPP.

[Live Coverage]