Pune Porsche car case: relief for accused juvenile, Bombay High Court grants bail

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to the accused juvenile in connection with the Pune Porsche car accident case.

Terming the remand order illegal, the court ordered the release of the minor into the care and custody of his paternal aunt, who is also the petitioner in the case. The aunt had claimed that he was sent to custody in an “unlawful and arbitrary” manner.

The court also directed that the minor's sessions with the psychologist should continue.

"Minor can't be kept in observation home," the court observed.

The minor has been accused of driving a Porsche car at a very high speed in an inebriated state when the vehicle crashed into a bike, killing two software engineers, Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar.

A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande quashed the orders issued by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) remanding the minor to the observation home.

"We allow the petition and order his release. The CCL (Child in Conflict with Law) shall be in the care and custody of the petitioner (paternal aunt)," the court said.

The bench noted the JJB's remand orders were illegal and passed without jurisdiction.

The court said amid the "immediate reaction to the accident, the kneejerk reaction and the public outcry, the CCL's age was not considered." "The CCL is under 18 years old. His age needs to be considered," the bench said.

It said the court was bound by law, the aims and objectives of the Juvenile Justice Act and must treat him as any child in conflict with law separately from adult, despite the seriousness of the crime.

"CCLs are to be considered differently," the HC said.

The court said the accused is already under rehabilitation, which is the primary objective, and he is already referred to a psychologist and the same shall be continued.

The order was passed in a plea filed by the 17-year-old boy's paternal aunt, who claimed he was illegally detained and sought his immediate release.

The accident took place in the early hours of May 19. The boy was granted bail the same day by the JJB and ordered to be under the care and supervision of his parents and grandfather.

The police later filed an application before the JJB, seeking amendment of the bail order.

On May 22, the board ordered the boy to be taken into custody and remanded him to an observation home.

The boy's aunt in the plea claimed that because of the public uproar coupled with political agenda, the police deviated from the right course of investigation with regard to the minor boy, thus defeating the entire purpose of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.