The Juvenile Justice Board on Tuesday rejected the Pune Police’s plea to try the teenager accused in the Porsche crash case as an adult. The board ruled that the accused, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, would be tried as a minor under the Juvenile Justice Act.
The prosecution had earlier pressed the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) to try the 17-year-old boy, accused of fatally running over two people while allegedly driving a Porsche under the influence, as an adult, citing the “heinous" nature of the crime.
The high-profile crash occurred on May 19 last year in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar, claiming the lives of IT professionals Anish Awadhiya and his friend Ashwini Costa, who were riding a motorcycle.
Since then, the Pune Police’s application requesting that the minor be tried as an adult remained pending before the JJB for over a year.
“The Pune police had moved an application before the JJB after the accident that the teen should be treated as an adult for the trial. But the defence sought adjournment multiple times. The defence was not allowing the hearing to take place," special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray had earlier said.
The accused teenager got bail hours after the accident on May 19 last year.
The lenient bail terms, including asking the minor to write a 300-word essay on road safety, triggered a nationwide firestorm, following which he was sent to an observation home in Pune city three days later.
On June 25, 2024, the Bombay High Court directed that the boy be released immediately, saying the Juvenile Justice Board’s orders remanding him to an observation home were illegal and the law regarding juveniles must be implemented fully.
