Pune Porsche Car Accident Case: JJB Extends Remand Of Minor Accused To Observation Home Till June 12

The Juvenile Justice Board, Pune today extended the remand of teen accused of driving the Porsche car involved in a collision which caused deaths of two engineers to observation home till June 12, 2024.

Advocate Abid Mulani for the minor accused told LiveLaw that the remand has been extended for 7 days. The JJB had initially sent him to observation home till June 5, 2024, and the Pune Police sought a 14-days extension.

Further, a Pune court today sent the parents of the accused to police custody till June 10, 2024 on allegations of manipulating the blood sample of the minor accused on the night of the accident. The mother was arrested on June 1, 2023 and sent to police custody till June 5, 2023, which was extended today.

The incident occurred on May 19, 2024, when the 17-year-old son of a prominent Pune builder, allegedly driving a Porche Taycan car under the influence of alcohol, lost control and hit a motorcycle in the Kalyani Nagar area. The collision resulted in the deaths of two individuals who succumbed to their injuries on the spot. As per the FIR, the Porsche car did not have number plates.

The FIR against the minor was registered under sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving), 337 and 338 (causing hurt by endangering life), and 427 (mischief) of the IPC. He is also booked under sections 184 (driving dangerously), 119 (duty to obey traffic signs) and 177 (general provision for punishment of offences) of the Motor Vehicles Act.

Subsequently, additional sections have been invoked against the minor including section 304 of IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act (driving by a drunken person).

On the night of the incident, the accused and his friends allegedly consumed alcohol at Cosie and Blak establishments between 9:30 pm and 1 am. The fatal accident occurred around 3:15 am when the group of friends was returning from a party.

The JJB granted bail to the minor driver on May 19, 2023, hours after the fatal accident. However, on May 22, 2024, JJB modified its order and remanded the teenager accused to an observation home till June 5, 2024. The JJB had also rejected the plea to try the minor accused as an adult.

A court in had Pune earlier sent the father and grandfather of the minor to judicial custody for allegedly pressurizing their driver to take the blame for the accident and wrongfully confining him in their house.

The two are booked under sections 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 365 (Kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 368 (Wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement, kidnapped or abducted person), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) with 34 of IPC. The minor's grandfather was arrested on May 25, 2023.

The minor's father, a real estate developer, is also booked under Sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act, which pertain to willful neglect and supplying intoxicating substances to a minor. He allegedly allowed the minor accused, who did not have a valid driving license, to drive the car and permitted him to attend a party despite being aware of his drinking habits.