Pune: A sessions court in Pune on Friday granted bail to the father of the juvenile accused in one of the cases pertaining to the Porsche car crash in which two software professionals were killed in the city last month.
He will, however, remain in jail since he is also accused in other cases related to the incident, including swapping of blood samples for alcohol tests and wrongful confinement of his driver to force him to take blame for the accident.
The court also granted bail to five other accused, including the owner and managers of two bars, who were arrested for allegedly serving liquor to underage patrons, including the juvenile.
On May 19, two IT professionals were killed in Kalyani Nagar here after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche car allegedly driven by the juvenile in an inebriated condition.
The case caused a national uproar after the Juvenile Justice Board member L N Danwade gave bail to the accused on very lenient terms, including writing a 300-word essay on road safety.
The police had registered three separate cases linked to the accident.
The primary case pertained to the accident itself, while the other case involved the two bar establishments -Cosie and Blak Club, as well as and the juvenile’s father, who allowed him to drive the car despite knowing he had no valid license and that he was allegedly addicted to liquor.
The case against the father and the bar owners and its staff was registered under sections 75 and 77 of Juvenile Justice Act and relevant sections of Motor Vehicle Act.
While section 77 of JJ Act deals with supplying a child with intoxicating liquor or drugs, which was applicable to the owner and managers of the two bar establishments, section 75 of JJ Act pertains to punishment for cruelty to child. It applies to the father.
As per the FIR, the juvenile’s father, by giving him a car to drive, endangered his life.
Advocate Prashant Patil, who represented the juvenile’s father, confirmed that the court on Friday evening granted bail to him.
The argument on his client’s bail application took place 10 days ago, Patil said, adding he had told court section 75 of JJ Act is non cognisable and does not contain provision of arrest.
While granting bail to the juvenile’s father, court directed that he will abide by all conditions imposed on him and also cooperate with the police, Patil said.
Adv S K Jain, who represented Pralhad Bhutda (owner of Cosie ), Sachin Katkar (manager of Cosie ) and Sandip Sangale, Nitesh Shevani and Jayesh Gavkar, all staffers at Blak Club Hotel, said the five had also been granted bail by the court.
Jain said he argued in court that since section 77 of JJ Act is non-cognizable and there is nothing to be probed against his clients, they should be granted bail.
The juvenile accused’s father and mother are currently in judicial custody in the case pertaining to the alleged blood sample swamping of their son. Among those arrested in this case are Dr Ajay Taware, the then HOD of Forensic Medicine department of Sassoon General Hospital, Dr Shrihari Halnor, the Chief Medical Officer of the hospital and staffer Atul Ghatkamble.
Advocate Patil also said an application for bail for the juvenile’s father and grandfather has been moved in the case pertaining to kidnapping and wrongful confinement of the driver. Argument will take place on June 25, he added.
The juvenile is in an observation home till June 25. After he was given bail, police approached the JJB for a review of the decision amid national outrage. The JJB modified its order and sent the juvenile to an observation home.
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