Bombay HC grants bail to juvenile accused in Pune Porsche car accident case

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to the juvenile accused in the Pune Porsche car accident case. The court ordered the release of the minor into the care and custody of his paternal aunt. The bench noted the Juvenile Justice Board’s (JJB) remand orders were illegal and passed without jurisdiction.

Speaking to the media about the case’s development, Prashant Patil, the advocate for the minor accused, said, “The child in conflict with law was arrested on May 19, 2024 and was released on bail. After his release on bail on May 22, 2024, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) took custody of the child under a conflicting law. That particular custody was illegal per se”.

#WATCH | Maharashtra | Pune car accident case: Prashant Patil, lawyer of the minor accused says, “Today we challenged the three remands of the juvenile justice board before the high court… We argued…and released for his immediate release. Today, the court has directed for the… https://t.co/RpUG5O4PmT pic.twitter.com/wfRuOL6Ts8

— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024

“Today, we challenged the three remands of the JJB before the High Court. The writ of habeas corpus was filed by the paternal aunt of the child in conflicting law. Section 12 of the particular act was the backbone of the writ and we argued that,, be it a bailable offence or a non-bailable offence, the code of CrPc does not apply to a child of conflicting law and thats why we requested his immediate release,” he said.

“Today, the honourable Bombay High Court set aside those orders and ordered the immediate release of the child under conflicting laws”, said advocate Patil.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had met the parents of the two engineers who died in the Pune Porsche crash case and assured them the guilty would not be spared. Shinde met Omprakash Awadhiya, father of Anish Awadhiya, and Suresh Koshta, father of Ashwini Koshta, and consoled them. He said that the incident was unfortunate and that the culprits would be severely punished.

CM Eknath Shinde spoke to the Commissioner of Police ( CP) Pune and directed him to initiate strict action against illegal pubs and bulldoze all structures that are against the building rules. He also directed the police to initiate renewed action against drug peddlers to make Pune a drug-free city, the CMO said in a press statement.

Even though the minor accused in the accident has been released, Shinde assured that the case has been taken up again for investigation. He also clarified that the case will be fast-tracked.

The Chief Minister stated on his ‘X’ handle, “We fully understand the grief caused by the sudden death of one’s young children. So, we decided to provide Rs 10 lakh each from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as a special consideration to the families of their two deceased children”. Shinde added that the government is making efforts to track down all the culprits and ensure that they are punished.

The two IT professionals, who were travelling on a bike, died on May 19 at 2.30 am after a car allegedly driven by a drunk 17-year-old boy crashed into them. The investigation unfolded like a can of worms as his kin allegedly tried to obliterate the evidence against him.

On June 21, the Pune district court granted bail to Vishal Agarwal, the father of the accused teenager, in the primary case where he was booked under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. But the teenager’s 77-year-old grandfather is still in judicial custody for allegedly forcing the driver to take responsibility for the crime on behalf of his grandson. (ANI)