Porsche accident in Pune: Bombay High Court orders ‘immediate’ release of accused teenager as ‘age not taken into account’

Porsche car crash in Pune: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered the immediate release of a 17-year-old boy from a observation home, who is linked to the recent Porsche car crash in Pune. The teenager was accused of illegally driving a Porsche in an intoxicated state when his car crashed into a two-wheeler, killing two technicians from Madhya Pradesh.

The Bombay High Court bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande quashed the juvenile court’s order to send the minor to an observation home.

“We grant the application and order his release. The CCL (Child in Conflict with Law) is in the care and custody of the applicant (paternal aunt),” the court said.

The court found that the JJB’s remand orders were illegal and without jurisdiction. The court said that “amidst the immediate response to the accident, the knee-jerk reaction and the public outcry, the age of the CCL was not taken into account.”

The court stated: “The CCL is under 18 years of age. His age must be taken into account.”

It stated that the court was bound by the law and the objectives of the Juvenile Justice Act and had to treat him separately from adults like any other child in conflict with the law, regardless of the seriousness of the crime.

“CCLs need to be viewed differently,” the HC said.

The order was passed in a petition filed by the 17-year-old boy’s paternal aunt, who alleged that he was being detained illegally and demanded his immediate release. The boy’s aunt argued in her petition that due to public uproar coupled with a political agenda, the police deviated from the proper course of investigation into the minor boy, thereby defeating the entire purpose of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

Prashant Patil, counsel for the minor accused, said, “Today we challenged the three remand orders of the juvenile court in the Supreme Court… We argued… and demanded his immediate release. Today the court has ordered his release. The custody must be given to the paternal aunt…”

The teenager was accused by police of driving a luxury car while drunk on May 19, which collided with a two-wheeler, resulting in the death of two technicians. He has been lodged in an observation home in Pune, Maharashtra.

Following the fatal accident on May 19, the youth was initially granted bail on flimsy grounds, but was sent to an observation home by the juvenile court on May 22 after the police sought a modification of the bail order, claiming the boy’s family had unduly influenced the investigation.

On May 22, the boy’s arrest and placement in an observation home was ordered.