IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman, who is under suspension following his arrest regarding a case of running his car over journalist K.M. Basheer, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, appeared in front of Principal Secretary Sanjay Garg for a hearing on Tuesday as part of the departmental enquiry proceedings.
He repeated the arguments he had made in response to a chargesheet as part of the department enquiry earlier.
He claimed that he was not driving the car when the accident happened.
Saifudeen Haji, director of Siraj newspaper, where Basheer used to work, put in arguments against this claim.
Siraj’s claim
He submitted to the committee the statement of Sriram’s friend Wafa Firoz to the Judicial First Class Magistrate that he was under the influence of alcohol and also driving the car when the accident happened. Mr. Haji, the complainant, demanded that the committee should consider the scientific evidence as well as the statements gathered by the special team investigating the case. The complainant said Mr. Sriram, who was serving as a sub-divisional magistrate, had no right to continue in any Government post after providing such false statements.
Evades cameras
Mr. Sriram evaded the media cameras, while he entered and exited the Secretariat, where he appeared for the hearing.
