K.M. Basheer death case: court defers decision on resuming trial

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The Thiruvananthapuram Additional District and Sessions Court IV on Wednesday deferred its decision on the date for resuming the trial in the case related to the death of journalist K.M. Basheer in a road accident involving IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman.

The court deferred the case as it continues to await official information from the government regarding the appointment of the special public prosecutor. The next hearing has been posted for October 17.

The government had recently decided to appoint advocate A. Santhosh Kumar as the special public prosecutor in the case. The Kerala High Court, however, issued directions to temporarily halt the proceedings since the official order was delayed.

The trial commenced on August 1. The prosecution has since examined 12 witnesses, while six documents and 10 material objects have been admitted as evidence. One of the witnesses examined by the prosecution turned hostile.  

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