By Justin Muszynski
Associate Professor of English Ravi Shankar’s file in relation to the motor vehicle charges he faces has been statutorily sealed by the Meriden Superior Court.
The reasons for the file’s sealing have not been disclosed. The only thing the clerk’s office is allowed to say when asked anything in regards to why it was sealed is, “We have no public information about this.”
No one from the court or the arresting agency is allowed to speculate why the file has been hidden from the public. Before the file was sealed, the charges included: illegally operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, evading responsibility, failure to drive in the proper lane and illegally operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance.
It’s unknown whether or not these charges have stayed the same.
According to Connecticut’s Judicial Branch Website, there are four reasons why a court’s clerk’s office would say they have no public information.
The first being if the defendant was granted a nolle more than 13 months ago which, based on Shankar’s arrest date, is not possible.
The second reason is if the defendant is acquitted, proven not guilty or if their charges were dismissed. In Shankar’s case, a not guilty finding is highly unlikely because he would have had to have gone through an entire trial already. However, it is possible that the charges were dismissed or he was acquitted.
The third reason why the clerk’s office would have to say they have no public information is if the file is sealed because it was court ordered to be or if the defendant was granted absolute pardon.
The final possibility is if the case involves a juvenile or youthful offender however, also seems very unlikely considering Shankar was born in 1975 and no other persons involved in the accident have been charged with anything as of yet.
According to the accident information summary, Shankar was traveling eastbound on Route 40 and was in the shoulder of two lanes when he struck a car in the rear. He then fled the scene and was later found by the police, who conducted a K9 track in the woods near the accident scene.
Shankar, who was arrested twice last semester on separate charges, still faces fraud charges in which he allegedly purchased over $20,000 worth of tickets to a soccer game in New Jersey with his Discover credit card and then claimed the purchase was fraudulent. According to the arrest warrant, he claimed he only bought four tickets to the game, totaling $342.40. However, Shankar later admitted to police that he did purchase all the tickets that were charged to his card, but took a loss when trying to sell them.
Mark McLaughlin, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications, was not aware that the file had been sealed and declined to comment on the issue.
Shankar is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on March 9 in relation to the fraud charges.