Pune Porsche case: Long arm and loopholes of law

'There is empowered parenting and there is indulgent parent, the first one concerns the society and the second one pleasures', says Dr Harish Shetty, psychiatrist and psychologist.

It was 2.30 a.m. and Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, 24-year-old IT engineers, were riding a motorbike on Kalyani Nagar-Airport Road in Pune when a high-end Porsche Taycan, speeding at over 200 kmph, hit their bike, killing them. The person behind the wheel was a 17-year-and-eight-month-old boy, allegedly drunk after partying in two pubs in upmarket Koregaon Park. The boy tried to run away but was caught by locals and handed over to the police.

This May 19 Pune Porsche case, involving the son of a real estate developer with high connections, has shot into the limelight, with the Eknath Shinde-led Maha Yuti government coming under fire and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi demanding a CBI probe.

Action taken so far

The minor, his father, Vishal Agarwal, and his grandfather, Surendra Kumar Agarwal, are behind bars. While Vishal has been arrested for allowing his son to drink and drive an unregistered car, Surendra Kumar has been arrested for pressurising the family driver, a witness in the case, to take up the blame in exchange for money.

The bar managers are in police custody for serving liquor to minors, even as the police have cracked down on several pubs in Pune. The state-run Sassoon General Hospital has also come under the scanner, with Dr. Ajay Taware, Head of the Forensic Medicine Department, and Dr Shrihari Halnor, Casualty Medical Officer, and a peon, Atul Ghatkamble, being arrested for tampering with the boy’s blood samples.

Police inspector Rahul Jagdale and assistant police inspector Vishwanath Todkar, both attached to the Yerawada Police Station, have been suspended for dereliction of duty.

What did happen after that night?

Sunil Tingre, an MLA of the NCP faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, rushed to the police station, a fact corroborated by the police. The boy’s blood samples were collected only around 11 a.m. the next day before he was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB).

In between, police upgraded the charge in the FIR from Code section 304 A (doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide) to 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), which attracts a jail term of 10 years. Besides, the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act have been applied as the boy drove a car that did not have a registration number. Another blood sample had been taken for DNA matching.

But Dr D L Dhanwade, the JJB member, granted the boy bail and laid down conditions for the Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) that included working with traffic police in Yerwada for 15 days, writing an essay on ‘effect of road accidents and their solution’, undergoing treatment for his drinking and taking counselling. This triggered public outrage. Later, a review application by the police made the JJB revoke the bail on May 22. The minor is now at a juvenile rehabilitation/correctional home.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, rushed to Pune and met top police officers, including Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar.

Loopholes in law

Mahendra Jain, a lawyer from Mumbai, said acquittals in such cases in the past had been caused by lack of evidence and problems in blood samples - the loopholes that needed to be plugged. He added that most of such accidents involved people with a ‘creamy background’, making the law enforcement machinery vulnerable.

“We have seen incidents of compromised investigations, lack of evidence, and witnesses turning hostile,” said journalist Aijaz Ahmed Ansari.

“Increasing the CCTV surveillance can be a big step to deal with the problem of lack of evidence. In many such incidents, the accused have run away. They are caught or surrender after 12 to 24 hours. By that time, the alcohol in the bloodstream is washed away,” adds Sunil Shivdasani, a former journalist.

“The police have also made an application to treat the minor as an adult. Besides, it needs to be noted that the blood samples have been tampered with. The prosecution has a gigantic task,” said a police officer.

According to Dr Harish Shetty, psychiatrist and psychologist, it concerns parenting. “There is empowered parenting and there is indulgent parent, the first one concerns the society and the second one pleasures,” he said. Amod Kanth, a retired IPS officer and social activist, said, “There is a lot of misunderstanding and misconceptions about the JJA and its applicability.”