A magistrate court here on Friday directed Sriram Venkitaraman to appear before it on October 12.
The 2013 batch officer was implicated by the police in the controversial drunk driving accident that caused the death of journalist K.M. Basheer early August 3.
The police had named him as accused in the case along with a woman co-passenger, Wafa Feroz. Ms Feroz had appeared before the magistrate and was granted bail. Mr Venkitaraman had sought temporary exemption from personal appearance.
Mr Venkitaraman had rejected the police finding that he was drunk and at the wheel of the vehicle at the time of the collision. He pleaded not guilty.
The police had told the court that they had no statutory medical certificate to prove that the officer was drunk at the time of the accident.
The agency had cited the sworn statement of Venkitaraman’s woman co-passenger and doctors who treated him as circumstantial evidence to make up for the lack of a statutory certificate of drunkenness.
Mr Venkitaraman also reportedly claimed that he was not at the controls of the car when the crash occurred. The Crime Branch pressed a case of culpable homicide against Mr Venkitaraman.
Investigators also reportedly had confirmation from the automaker that the car was moving above the legal speed limit when it veered off the carriageway and fatally rammed Basheer’s motorcycle.
