The Supreme Court has granted bail to three accused in the 2024 Pune Porsche case, in which two people were killed. Aditya Avinash Sood, Ashish Satish Mittal, and Amar Santosh Gaikwad were arrested on charges of swapping blood samples of the primary accused, who were minors and inside the car at the time, with their own.
During the hearing, the bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, said that there was no point in multiplying the witnesses in the case when the petitioners have been in undertrial custody for more than three years. As many as 159 witnesses are yet to be examined in the matter.
"Even if it is held that it was the juvenile who caused the accident, he is being procedured against before the JJB. Thus, it was contended that continued incarceration of these appellants in the absence of any progress in the trial and the possibility of delay due to more than a hundred prosecution witnesses would cause them prejudice," the bench noted.
The Pune case had drawn nationwide backlash as the primary accused in the case was 17 at the time. He had driven the luxury sports car in a drunken state and fatally knocked down two techies, Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, who were on a scooter. Hours later, the Juvenile Justice Board granted bail to the teen, directing him to do work in police for 15 days, write a 300-word essay on road accidents, undergo treatment for drinking habits and take counselling sessions. The decision invited even more nationwide outrage.
Sood and Mittal were arrested on August 19 last year after their blood samples were used for tests and swapped out with the two minors who were in the Porsche along with the 17-year-old at the time of the incident. The Bombay High Court rejected Sood and Mittal's pleas along with six others in December last year.
On January 13, the Supreme Court had issued notice on January 13 and asked Maharashtra to explain why the NDPS Court has not yet framed charges, considering the petitioner was arrested in March 2022.
During today's hearing, the bench gave liberty to the prosecution to impose any particular bail condition to protect its interest. The top court also imposed a bail condition that the petitioner should not leave his hometown of Ankleshwar in Gujarat, except for the dates of attending the trial court. He is also required to be present every Sunday at the city and surrender his passport before the trial court.
The Supreme Court also heavily criticised the parents of the main accused for failing to do proper parenting. "Father and mother are to be blamed for not having control over their children. If we say anything on that line, we are only afraid that it may prejudice the trial against these appellants," Justice Nagarathna said.
The bench also said that despite two people losing their lives, the only thing in favour of the petitioners is "long incarceration". "So Liberty versus all that, ultimately," it noted.
"Celebration cannot be driving at full speed and killing people on the footpath or the poor. This is not the first time such a thing has happened. The law has to catch up. The main one responsible is the parents, who give money to have gala time. Parents have no time to spend with children and that is why, what is the best thing to give? Money, the ATM card. Of course, there will be public outrage, and you cannot curb that. We have much to say on this," the bench did not mince words in rebuking the advocates representing the accused.
After the bizarre essay punishment triggered outrage, the Pune Police approached the JJB to review the decision. The board modified their order and sent the juvenille to an observation home, from where he was released in June last year. The main accused's parents, Vishal Agarwal and Shivani Agarwal, are among the accused in the blood-swapping case.
