Kerala Journalist Death Case: Bail granted to IAS officer

Today, an IAS officer, who was remanded to judicial custody in connection with the death of a prominent journalist based in the Indian state of Kerala, has been granted bail, as the prosecution in the court has failed to substantiate its argument with proper medical evidence.

It was a couple of days ago the unfortunate incident occurred. A luxury car in which the IAS officer was travelling collided with a bike in which the journalist was travelling. The collision was so severe that the journalist suffered serious injuries in the accident. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries.

There were two persons in the car at the time the accident happened. One the officer and the other was his friend. The police, who reached the spot within few minutes after the incident as the spot was only a few meters from the station, let the other person go and took the IAS officer to a government hospital for medical check up.

Surprisingly, the police did not collect blood samples from the officer then to check whether he was under the influence of alcohol. He was also allowed to get admitted in a private hospital in the city.

What followed was a drama. In the morning, the friend of the officer approached the police station claiming that she was driving the vehicle at the time the accident happened. And, she later changed her statement and confessed that the IAS officer was driving the car and he was under the influence of alcohol. She also said that it was to help the officer she made a contradictory statement at first.

By the time, several eyewitnesses emerged supporting the statement given by the friend of the IAS officer.

Every media houses reported the negligence the police showed at the beginning of the investigation. The police was severely criticised for letting the officer go without conducting proper medical procedure.

When finally the procedure was conducted, it was almost ten hours past the time of the incident.

It is a well known fact that alcohol content in blood decreases as time passes. As expected, in the blood sample, which was taken hours after the incident from the officer who was under treatment in the private hospital, no alcohol content has been detected.

Most probably, it may be this loophole that has helped the officer to get bail in the case in this short time span.

The government has suspended the IAS officer. And, the police officer, who made the mistake in the initial stage of the investigation, has also been suspended.

A special investigation team has been constituted to investigate the crime. Clearly, the evidences the police have so far collected are not enough to prosecute the officer under the sections currently charged against the officer. If the SIT also does not come up with anything relevant, the present case is less likely to stand strong.

Whether the IAS officer will be punished or not is a second matter. The immediate concern is who is going to compensate the mistake made by the organisation function under the direct control of the government. The journalist deserves justice.

Another important question is who is the friend who was with the officer at the time of the incident. Why no investigation is done in that direction? If the IAS officer is innocent, then who killed the innocent man?

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