‘No one will be allowed to dilute the legal process’: Kerala CM on Sriram IAS case

Source: thenewsminute.com

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that no one will be allowed to dilute the investigation or legal process, in his first reaction to the controversy surrounding IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman following the death of journalist KM Basheer.

35-year-old Basheer, a Thiruvananthapuram based journalist died early Saturday morning after being hit by a car driven by IAS officer Sriram.

“It’s not that Sriram does not know the law, how grave a crime it is. It’s different when a person who is aware of it is doing and someone unaware is doing it. As per the preliminary reports and as per information of the eyewitnesses, he was drunk in excess. Even if he was not drunk, he should have had the basic sense of not overspeeding,” the CM said, while addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

Pinarayi added that a special investigation team (SIT) has been formed for a thorough investigation that leaves no room for any lapses.

“The delay in examining blood sample, shifting of the accused from the general hospital to a private hospital and the lapses in FIR, will all be investigated by the SIT. There will be strong action against anybody who tries to dilute the probe,” Pinarayi said.

“The society at large knows that Venkitaraman drove the vehicle in a rash manner and was under the influence of alcohol. The only person who says that he was not under the influence of alcohol is him. The local sub-inspector of police who erred in his duty in collecting evidence has been suspended. None need to be worried in this case, as all those who have erred will be brought before the law,” the CM said.

The government had suspended Sriram on Monday while the court granted him bail the next day.

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday criticised the way the police went about their job in collecting evidence against Sriram.

The High Court went to the extent of asking the prosecution if they expected the accused to come up with evidence against himself.

“Is this the way the police goes about collecting evidence in a road accident case? There is no excuse for this lapse when the required procedures were not followed,” said the court.

The court however refused to stay the bail granted by the lower court and posted the case for further hearing on Friday.