Pune Porsche case: 17-year-old prime accuse to be tried as juvenile

Crashed Porsche car. Pic/File Pic

The famous Pune Porsche case has taken a new turn altogether. On Tuesday, the Juvenile Justice Board said that the 17-year-old boy accused of driving a Porsche car in an inebriated state and mowing down two persons last year in Pune will be tried as a juvenile. The statement from the Juvenile Justice Board has surely made things a lot more drastic in the case.

As reported by PTI, the incident, which hit national headlines, took place in the Kalyani Nagar area on May 19, 2024. The Pune car crash resulted in the deaths of motorcycle-borne IT professionals Anish Awadhiya and his friend Ashwini Costa. The crash, which led to the irregularities of Pune city administration and clubs serving alcohol to minors, was highly condemned.

While the Pune police last year sought that the accused should be tried as an adult, stating that he committed a "heinous" act, as not only were two persons crushed to death but there were also attempts to tamper with the evidence, as per news agency PTI.

However, after listening to Pune Police's statement, the Juvenile Justice Board on Tuesday rejected their plea to treat the accused boy as an adult, as per the defence counsel, as reported by news agency PTI.

The police, just a few hours after the accident, arrested the accused and two other persons in connection with the alleged swapping of the blood samples of minors who were with the juvenile accused in the Porsche car crash case of Pune.

The mother of the main accused in the Porsche car crash was reportedly the first among the ten accused who were arrested in the alleged blood sample-swapping case, who were later released on bail.

However, the accused teenager got bail hours after the accident on May 19, 2024. 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.

Furthermore, 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.

(With PTI Inputs)