Bombay High Court Petition: Release Teen in Pune Porsche Crash

A paternal aunt of a teenager involved in a fatal Porsche crash in Pune has petitioned the Bombay High Court for his release, claiming illegal detention. She insists the incident was an accident and urges for the boy’s well-being under the Juvenile Justice Act.

A paternal aunt of the teenager allegedly involved in the Pune Porsche car crash that killed two IT professionals last month has moved the Bombay High Court claiming the boy was in ''illegal'' detention and sought his immediate release.

The woman, in her habeas corpus (produce the person) plea, has sought immediate release of the 17-year-old boy, who is currently lodged at an observation home in Pune.

The petition 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.

The petition, filed on June 10, came up for hearing before a division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande on Friday.

The public prosecutor, Hiten Venegaonkar, representing the Pune police, challenged the maintainability of the petition and argued the boy was in legal custody in the observation home.

Senior advocate Aabad Ponda, representing the petitioner, sought the urgent release of the boy.

After the arguments, the bench posted the hearing on the plea for June 20.

In the early hours of May 19, the juvenile was allegedly driving a Porsche car at a very high speed in an intoxicated state when it crashed into a motorbike, killing two software engineers -- Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta -- in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area.

The boy's aunt claimed that due to public uproar and political motives, the police deviated from the rightful course of investigation in the case, thus undermining the intent of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

She asserted that the boy and his family were unjustly portrayed as 'monstrous' individuals.

In the petition, she argued that the boy had been subjected to physical assault and was now in an observation home, which could be detrimental to him. Instead, he should be in the custody of a family member due to his parents being in jail for separate cases related to the crash.

The petition accused the police of trying to set an example and violating legal provisions.

On May 19, the boy was initially released to his grandfather's custody but was taken back into custody on May 22 following a public outcry. Both of the boy's parents and grandfather are currently in judicial custody on various charges related to the incident.

Earlier this week, the Juvenile Justice Board extended the boy's stay at the observation facility till June 25. The Bombay High Court will next hear the case on June 20.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)