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Pune Porsche Crash Case: Fadnavis Slams Juvenile Justice Board's 'Shocking And Surprising' Order - All You Need To Know
Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. (Picture: Twitter)
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has vowed strong action against the teenager who crashed his high-end car into a motorbike, resulting in the deaths of two people.
Fadnavis criticised the "lenient" punishment given by the Juvenile Justice Board, which included writing a 300-word essay on accidents, working with the traffic police for 15 days, and undergoing counselling for his drinking.
"How can the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Board give such an order," he questioned, NDTV reported.
The incident involved a Porsche car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old who, according to police, was drunk at the time.
The crash occurred in Kalyani Nagar, Pune, in the early hours of Sunday.
Witnesses reported that one victim, Ashwini, was thrown 20 feet in the air, while the other, Aneesh, was flung into a parked car. Both victims were IT professionals.
"The order passed by the JJ Board was shocking and surprising as it had taken a very lenient view of such a heinous crime. The Pune police had petitioned the board to allow them to treat the teenager as an adult as his age is 17 years and eight months. But the board kept the application aside by categorising it as 'seen and filed' and released him on bail which led to public outrage," said Fadnavis.
"We have appealed to the district court against the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Board order. There is a huge public outrage. I have taken stock of the investigation updates till now," Fadnavis said.
The teen, son of a prominent Pune realtor, was reportedly seen drinking with friends at a bar hours before the crash.
The police have arrested the bar owners for permitting underage drinking, as the legal drinking age in Maharashtra is 25.
The boy had visited two restaurants with a group of friends on Saturday night, where they were served alcohol, according to the police.
Fadnavis highlighted that, as per the Nirbhaya case, individuals over 16 years old should be considered adults in cases of heinous crimes.
The teenager was arrested but granted bail within 15 hours, leading to widespread public anger.
The father of the teen has also been arrested under sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act, related to wilful neglect of a child and supplying a child with intoxicating substances.
Fadnavis also outlined government measures to prevent similar incidents in the future, stating, "Administration has been alerted to take closure action against those pubs where violations are found and drink driving checks by police on important places".
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