Mercedes hit-and-run case: JJB grants bail to juvenile accused

A Juvenile Justice Board on Tuesday granted bail to the minor accused of driving a Mercedes car that crushed a 33-year-old marketing consultant earlier this month in Delhi.

A Juvenile Justice Board on Tuesday granted bail to a minor, accused of driving a Mercedes car that crushed a 33-year-old marketing consultant earlier this month in Delhi.

32-year-old Sidharth Sharma, a business consultant, was killed when a speeding Mercedes car allegedly driven by a teen, hit him while he was crossing the road in New Delhi.(Sonu Mehta/ Hindustan Times)

A week back, the JJB had rejected the bail application of the boy, observing that he was a repeat offender. He had been earlier challaned in another case of rash driving.

Police had apprehended the juvenile offender on April 5, a day after he killed Sidhharth Sharma by mowing him down with his car when the victim was crossing a road.

The minor was then freed on bail as he was booked under section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.

After an uproar and allegations that police officers were going soft on the accused, the police took a U-turn. They slapped serious charges - culpable homicide - on the juvenile driver.

The boy’s father was also arrested under section 304 (abetting the crime of culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC for letting his minor son to drive even after knowing that he had caused an accident earlier.

Police had earlier told the court that CCTV footage showed that the minor offender was driving his car at high speed in a residential area.