Pune Porsche crash: Conduct of juvenile board members under probe, committee formed

Pune Porsche accident: The conduct of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) members, who granted immediate bail to the minor accused of driving the Porsche that crashed and killed two individuals, is under the scanner. The Maharashtra government has set up a panel to look into the conduct of the board members that let the accused go and asked him to write a 300-word essay on road safety. 

The panel would investigate if proper norms were followed while issuing the orders in the crash case. The committee was formed last week by the state woman and child development department (WCD). 

The panel is headed by a deputy commissioner-rank officer and is expected to submit its report by next week. 

WCD commissioner Prashant Narnavare said, "I have powers under the Juvenile Justice Act to probe the overall conduct of the members who have been appointed by the state government. We have set up a committee to assess the overall conduct of the JJB members in connection with the order that granted bail to the juvenile after the accident.” The JJB comprises a member from the judiciary and two persons appointed by the state government. 

Narnavare said that the committee was formed right after the bail order was issued. 

Meanwhile, another three-member committee is conducting an inquiry into the alleged manipulation of the blood samples of the juvenile. The police claimed that Sassoon Hospital doctors discarded the juvenile’s blood samples and replaced it with another individual’s sample to avoid alcohol traces. 

Two IT professionals were killed after their motorcycle was hit by the speeding Porsche in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar. The 17-year-old accused was granted bail hours after the accident, and was asked to write an essay. After an onslaught of criticism, the police appealed for a review of the bail, and it was thereby cancelled. The minor has since been in an observation home.