Magistrate court grants Sriram Venkitaraman bail

Directs him not interfere in the probe or leave the Sate

A magistrate court here on Tuesday released IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman on bail.

He has been in judicial remand at the intensive care unit of Government Medical College Hospital here since Sunday after the police indicted him for drunk driving that caused the death of journalist K.M. Basheer in a car and motorbike collision here early Saturday.

The magistrate, A. Aneesa, ordered Mr. Venkitaraman not to leave Kerala or commit an offence of the same nature. The court said it would revoke his bail if he tampered with evidence, interfered with the investigation or swayed witnesses.

The magistrate required Mr. Venkitaraman to present himself before the investigating officer whenever needed. He has to execute two bail bonds of ₹35,000 each and produce two persons of sound legal and financial standing as sureties.

‘No legality’

K.K. Dheerendra Krishnan, counsel for Mr. Venkitaraman, argued that provision of culpable homicide slapped by the police had no legality.

His client “had taken a stand against government and other powerful politicians in land grabbing cases.” The State had falsely incriminated him in the crime “due to the undue influence of the Press since the deceased is a journalist.” Biased news reporting and trial by the media had impelled the police to foist false charges on his client.

The court did not comment on the merit of the case. The magistrate perused the case diary file. The result of the blood alcohol concentration test conducted by the Chief Chemical Examiner’s laboratory remained a sealed court document for now.

‘Delay in test’

However, S. Chandrasekharan Nair, the counsel for de facto complainant and Siraj newspaper unit chief, Saifudeen Haji, said the dubious nine-hour delay in examining Mr. Venkitaraman’s blood for alcohol enabled him to evade the law quickly.

The court turned down the prosecution’s plea seeking Mr. Venkitaraman's police custody for further investigation. It also dismissed its petition opposing his bail. The police said they would appeal against magistrate's decision.