Amid allegations of a shoddy investigation to protect the minor who knocked down two young techies while driving under influence in his Porsche in the early hours of Sunday, the Pune police said the prosecution will request the court to treat the juvenile as a major.
The young man, son of a prominent Pune builder, is four months short of his 18th birthday. The Juvenile Justice Board had ordered his release within hours of the accident stipulating that he should write an essay reflecting on the accident, seek help to give up drinking and do voluntary work with the Pune traffic police. The bail condition led to a storm of protests in the city. The family of the two deceased have demanded stringent punishment for the accused.
“On Sunday itself we had moved an application before the Juvenile Justice court (board) seeking permission to try the juvenile as an adult and send him to an observation home as the crime is heinous, but the plea was rejected. We are now approaching the sessions court with the same plea,” said Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar. They will also request the court to cancel his bail. His announcement came barely minutes after Maharashtra home minister Devendra Fadnavis’s instructions to approach the higher court and ensure that no leniency was shown in the case. “Taking the gravity of the case into account, we have registered the offence under Section 304 of the IPC, which is culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and which is the most stringent section we could apply,” said the CP.
The accused, who cannot be identified as he is a minor, had thrown a party on Saturday night for twelve of his friends to celebrate his class XII results. The gang of friends first had drinks and dinner at a restaurant called Cosie in the upscale neighbourhood of Mundhwa where, according to the order seen by HT, they ordered rounds of Hoegaarden, Johnnie Walker, Black Label and Absolut Blue along with the food. At midnight, the gang of friends moved to Blak Club, at the Marriott Suites at Koregaon Park annexe. The FIR says that the accused who was the host for the evening ordered more alcohol and food here and they left the restaurant at 1 am.
{{/usCountry}}The accused, who cannot be identified as he is a minor, had thrown a party on Saturday night for twelve of his friends to celebrate his class XII results. The gang of friends first had drinks and dinner at a restaurant called Cosie in the upscale neighbourhood of Mundhwa where, according to the order seen by HT, they ordered rounds of Hoegaarden, Johnnie Walker, Black Label and Absolut Blue along with the food. At midnight, the gang of friends moved to Blak Club, at the Marriott Suites at Koregaon Park annexe. The FIR says that the accused who was the host for the evening ordered more alcohol and food here and they left the restaurant at 1 am.
{{/usCountry}}The breathanalyzer test conducted at 11 am on Sunday morning showed no traces of alcohol, according to the police however, his blood samples have been sent to laboratories and the results are awaited.
In a separate FIR, the Pune police have booked the owners of the two restaurants, Pralhad Bhutada of Cosie and Sandip Sangale, the proprietor of Blak Club, for serving alcohol to minors under the relevant sections of the IPC. The minor’s father has also been booked under Motor Vehicles Act sections 3,5 and 199 (a). The father has additionally been booked under sections, 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act for failing to do his duty as a guardian.
The minor’s father had bought the silver-grey Porsche this March but the car had not yet been registered as he had not paid the ₹44 lakh road tax on the car. The accused, being a minor, obviously had no driving license. The police estimate, based on the CCTV footage, he was driving the Porsche at a speed of 160 kmph that at the time of the accident.
The two victims, Ashwini Costa and Anis Awadhia, both 24, were former colleagues working for an MNC in Kalyaninagar. Costa had quit her job a few months ago and was scheduled to return to her home in Jabalpur on June 18th for her birthday.