The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to grant urgent relief in a plea filed by aunt of the teenager boy, who rammed his Porsche car in Pune on May 19 killing two IT professionals, alleging that he was in "illegal" detention and sought his immediate release.
The habeas corpus (produce person in court) petition filed by the boy’s paternal aunt sought immediate release of the 17-year-old boy, who is currently lodged at an observation home in Pune.
The plea said no matter from what perception this unfortunate incident is looked at, it was an accident and the person who was said to be driving the vehicle was a minor.
Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar challenged the maintainability of the petition stating that the boy was in legal custody in the observation home.
Aunt’s counsel Aabad Ponda sought the urgent release of the boy.
A bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande refused the immediate relief and kept the petition for hearing on June 20.
On May 19, a minor boy driving a Porsche car rammed into a bike and killed two techies, Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta. The boy was found to be drinking alcohol at a pub before the incident.
The plea x claimed that because of public uproar coupled with political agenda, the police deviated from the right course of investigation in the case, thus defeating the entire purpose of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. “The intent of the law is abundantly clear and there cannot be any iota of doubt that the most important factor and the crucial element is the well-being of a minor child who is in conflict with law,” the petition said.
The petition contended that the boy and his family were portrayed as "monstrous". “In the present case, the boy, who was also subjected to physical assault (after the crash), was shown to be a monster and removed from his home where he could feel protected and is kept in illegal detention,” it added.
At the observation home, the boy must have been kept with other children in conflict with law, which could be detrimental to him. Instead of an observation facility, he ought to be kept in the custody of a family member who could take care of him, according to the plea. The boy’s parents are in jail in separate cases related to the accident.
The police were trying to make an example out of this case and in the process acting in contravention of provisions of law, the plea contended.
Hours after the crash, on May 19 itself, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) released the boy in the custody of his grandfather with certain conditions. However, pursuant to a motivated public uproar, the release order passed by the JJB was challenged by the police and on May 22, the boy was taken back into custody and sent to an observation home.
The boy’s parents and grandfather were arrested on different charges related to the accident and are currently in judicial custody. The boy continues to be illegally detained in violation of provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the petitioner claimed.
“The petitioner is compelled to file the petition against the respondents (police) for their abuse of process and blatant disregard to the rule of law, further compounded by the arbitrary and illegal detention of the boy,” the petition underlined.
On Thursday, the JJB extended the boy’s custody at the observation facility till June 25.
