K M Basheer's wife approaches High Court expressing concern over fair trial

KOCHI: Jaseela, wife of K M Basheer, former bureau chief of Siraj daily, approached the Kerala High Court in connection with his death. Her demand is to quash the order related to the transfer of the trial court. The plea filed has challenged the order of the Thiruvananthapuram Sessions Court.

Basheer's wife alleged in the plea that the transfer of the court was at the behest of the defence lawyer. She expressed concern that the trial may not be conducted in a fair and impartial manner. The case should be transferred to sessions court 1, which previously considered the case. The present prosecutor does not have experience and therefore he should be changed. The plea has also demanded that a special prosecutor be appointed. The high court will consider the plea tomorrow.

IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman is the lone accused in the case. The accused has been charged with culpable homicide, dangerous driving, drunken driving, and destruction of evidence. Basheer was killed in a car accident in which Sriram Venkitaraman and his friend Wafa Firoz were travelling on August 3, 2019.

The witness had informed the court the other day that he had heard from the locals that the car that hit Basheer's vehicle was driven by Sriram Venkitaraman. The director of Siraj newspaper Saifuddin Haji informed the court about this. He gave a statement that he had told the police what he had heard. Haji said that he came to the accident spot after knowing about the accident involving Basheer. He also informed the court that he was the one who gave the initial statement to the police.