The Kerala government has filed a review petition against discharging IAS officer Sreeram Venkitaraman from the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in a case of drunken driving and running over a journalist in Thiruvananthapuram three years ago.

In the case that drew intense media attention and fuelled a public outcry, the speeding car driven by Venkitaraman, who was allegedly in an inebriated state, had run over bike-borne journalist K.M. Basheer in the small hours of August 3, 2019.

The additional sessions court of Thiruvananthapuram had in October this year discharged Venkitaraman and a friend, Wafa, who was in the car, of the charge under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) after allowing their separate pleas.

The court instead ordered them to stand trial for causing death due to rash and negligent driving, which was considered a lighter offence.

In its grounds against the session court’s ruling discharging the officer of IPCSection 304, the government cited the order as “wrong in law, facts and circumstances of the case and weight of evidence”.

The government memorandum filed before the high court on November 22 stated that the sessions court was wrong in accepting the statement of a government doctor who had said there was no requisition for the mandatory blood tests from the police.

The memorandum noted that the doctor who examined Venkitaraman at the district general hospital after the accident had asked the officer to consult a surgeon and referred him to the government medical college hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. But, the government noted, Venkitaraman admitted himself to a private hospital without informing the police.

The government said Venkitaraman, “being a qualified doctor, made all effort to delay the treatment with a view to destroy the evidence” and the hospital staff had stated that he was “reluctant to give blood sample” on the day of the accident.

“The accused purposely delayed the collection of blood sample with a view to dilute the alcohol contents in the blood,” the memorandum stated.