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Time of India
18-05-2025
- Time of India
An adult or juvenile? No decision yet on Pune Porsche teen's trial
1 2 3 Pune: May 19 marks a year since the 17-year-old son of a prominent city builder crashed his Porsche Taycan into a bike killing two techies in Kalyaninagar . Ashwini Koshta and Anish Awadhia were both 24. Both died on the spot. Their families have been calling for justice , but a year on, there has been no decision yet whether the teenager is to be tried as an adult or a juvenile in conflict with the law. Pune police's plea seeking the teen's trial as an adult has been pending before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) at Yerawada. Their case has come up for hearing before the JJB on multiple occasions but each time, the hearing was deferred due to adjournments sought either by the prosecution or defence. The hearing was also impacted for a long time due to lack of quorum, after state govt terminated two nominated members of the JJB for 'misusing power' under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, after they granted bail to the teenage driver, on conditions he write a 300-word essay on traffic discipline, among others. Recently, state govt filled the two vacant JJB positions to meet the quorum and the case is now due for a hearing tomorrow. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch Bitcoin và Ethereum - Không cần ví! IC Markets BẮT ĐẦU NGAY Undo It indeed has been a painful wait for justice for Ashwini and Anish's families in MP. Their parents have repeatedly alleged their children's deaths was "murder". Why The Plea When the crash occurred, the teen driver of the Porsche was just four months shy of his 18th birthday. Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act provides that a child in conflict with law who is between 16 and 18 years of age and is alleged to have committed a "heinous offence" can be tried as an adult, subject to preliminary assessment by the JJB. The JJB can seek help from psychologists or subject experts and may also refer the matter to a medical board for an opinion before taking such a decision. The key objective of the assessment is to determine 1) whether the minor suspect possesses the mental age of an adult and the physical capacity to commit a heinous crime, 2) ability to understand the consequences of the act, and 3) the circumstances in which the offence was committed. The teenage driver's psychiatric assessment, de-addiction, probationary officer's assessment and RTO reports have already been submitted to the JJB and the matter is held up for a final hearing. Police Case Pune police's case is that the circumstances and the manner in which the Porsche Taycan crash occurred fall within the 'heinous crime' category and hence the teenage driver be treated as an adult. The accident occurred around 2.30am on May 19, 2024, as the teen, along with two friends and his family's driver, was returning to his Wadgaonsheri bungalow, after a night out at two pubs in Mundhwa. After the crash, Yerawada police, which initially investigated the case, were lax in referring the teenager to a blood test to determine if he was driving under the influence of alcohol and finally, when he was referred to the Sassoon General Hospital, his blood samples were swapped. In fact, the teenager's parents and two senior Sassoon hospital doctors were among 10 people arrested in the blood test manipulation case. All this, according to the police, indicated a conspiracy to mislead the investigation and create false evidence and needed to be dealt with firmly, including the teenager's trial as an adult. Supreme Court lawyer Sana Raees Khan said: "The delay in deciding the police's plea for over a year reflects a systemic lapse that is even prejudicial to the minor's rights. That the JJB has not yet concluded the preliminary assessment shows either procedural delays or lack of prosecutorial urgency. In either case, the presumption of the child's innocence and right to a fair and speedy trial are being compromised". Senior lawyer S K Jain said: "Section 14 of the JJ Act provides, among other things, that the JJB must complete the hearing of the plea to treat the minor as an adult, within four months after receiving such a plea. It can extend the time limit by another two months and if the need arises, can seek additional time from the chief judicial magistrate to complete the hearing. The police plea will become infructuous if the hearing is not completed within the additional time". Child rights activist Varsha Rokade said: "A public outcry and the demand to treat the minor as an adult is natural considering the seriousness of the incident. Yet, the offence attributed to the teenage driver cannot be termed as heinous in the present case. This is because the police initially invoked section 304 (a) (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code against the minor. The said offence is punishable for up to two years. Later, 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC punishable up to 10 years was invoked." Rokade said the primary objective of the JJ Act is to ensure rehabilitation of children in conflict with law in society. But at the same time, lawmakers should keep in mind that the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules) also does not advocate leniency in dealing with offenders in serious crimes. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ganesh Ingale told TOI: "We are ready to get our case argued through the special prosecutor. If our plea is allowed, then the two chargesheets filed against the teenager would be transferred from the JJB to the sessions court for trial. These chargesheets would be clubbed with the three other chargesheets filed against his parents and eight others. But, we feel the minor's lawyer is using delaying tactics and prolonging the matter". Ingale added: "Even on May 20 when the matter is posted for hearing next, the defence has already filed an application seeking adjournment to argue the matter in June. We will make our written submission opposing such adjournment and will pray for an expeditious hearing." Pune: May 19 marks a year since the 17-year-old son of a prominent city builder crashed his Porsche Taycan into a bike killing two techies in Kalyaninagar. Ashwini Koshta and Anish Awadhia were both 24. Both died on the spot. Their families have been calling for justice, but a year on, there has been no decision yet whether the teenager is to be tried as an adult or a juvenile in conflict with the law. Pune police's plea seeking the teen's trial as an adult has been pending before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) at Yerawada. Their case has come up for hearing before the JJB on multiple occasions but each time, the hearing was deferred due to adjournments sought either by the prosecution or defence. The hearing was also impacted for a long time due to lack of quorum, after state govt terminated two nominated members of the JJB for 'misusing power' under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, after they granted bail to the teenage driver, on conditions he write a 300-word essay on traffic discipline, among others. Recently, state govt filled the two vacant JJB positions to meet the quorum and the case is now due for a hearing tomorrow. It indeed has been a painful wait for justice for Ashwini and Anish's families in MP. Their parents have repeatedly alleged their children's deaths was "murder". Why The Plea When the crash occurred, the teen driver of the Porsche was just four months shy of his 18th birthday. Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act provides that a child in conflict with law who is between 16 and 18 years of age and is alleged to have committed a "heinous offence" can be tried as an adult, subject to preliminary assessment by the JJB. The JJB can seek help from psychologists or subject experts and may also refer the matter to a medical board for an opinion before taking such a decision. The key objective of the assessment is to determine 1) whether the minor suspect possesses the mental age of an adult and the physical capacity to commit a heinous crime, 2) ability to understand the consequences of the act, and 3) the circumstances in which the offence was committed. The teenage driver's psychiatric assessment, de-addiction, probationary officer's assessment and RTO reports have already been submitted to the JJB and the matter is held up for a final hearing. Police Case Pune police's case is that the circumstances and the manner in which the Porsche Taycan crash occurred fall within the 'heinous crime' category and hence the teenage driver be treated as an adult. The accident occurred around 2.30am on May 19, 2024, as the teen, along with two friends and his family's driver, was returning to his Wadgaonsheri bungalow, after a night out at two pubs in Mundhwa. After the crash, Yerawada police, which initially investigated the case, were lax in referring the teenager to a blood test to determine if he was driving under the influence of alcohol and finally, when he was referred to the Sassoon General Hospital, his blood samples were swapped. In fact, the teenager's parents and two senior Sassoon hospital doctors were among 10 people arrested in the blood test manipulation case. All this, according to the police, indicated a conspiracy to mislead the investigation and create false evidence and needed to be dealt with firmly, including the teenager's trial as an adult. Supreme Court lawyer Sana Raees Khan said: "The delay in deciding the police's plea for over a year reflects a systemic lapse that is even prejudicial to the minor's rights. That the JJB has not yet concluded the preliminary assessment shows either procedural delays or lack of prosecutorial urgency. In either case, the presumption of the child's innocence and right to a fair and speedy trial are being compromised". Senior lawyer S K Jain said: "Section 14 of the JJ Act provides, among other things, that the JJB must complete the hearing of the plea to treat the minor as an adult, within four months after receiving such a plea. It can extend the time limit by another two months and if the need arises, can seek additional time from the chief judicial magistrate to complete the hearing. The police plea will become infructuous if the hearing is not completed within the additional time". Child rights activist Varsha Rokade said: "A public outcry and the demand to treat the minor as an adult is natural considering the seriousness of the incident. Yet, the offence attributed to the teenage driver cannot be termed as heinous in the present case. This is because the police initially invoked section 304 (a) (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code against the minor. The said offence is punishable for up to two years. Later, 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC punishable up to 10 years was invoked." Rokade said the primary objective of the JJ Act is to ensure rehabilitation of children in conflict with law in society. But at the same time, lawmakers should keep in mind that the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules) also does not advocate leniency in dealing with offenders in serious crimes. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ganesh Ingale told TOI: "We are ready to get our case argued through the special prosecutor. If our plea is allowed, then the two chargesheets filed against the teenager would be transferred from the JJB to the sessions court for trial. These chargesheets would be clubbed with the three other chargesheets filed against his parents and eight others. But, we feel the minor's lawyer is using delaying tactics and prolonging the matter". Ingale added: "Even on May 20 when the matter is posted for hearing next, the defence has already filed an application seeking adjournment to argue the matter in June. We will make our written submission opposing such adjournment and will pray for an expeditious hearing."
Indian Express
18-05-2025
- Indian Express
A year on, the sordid Porsche saga that rattled Pune
At 2.30am on May 19 last year, lives of two young IT engineers — Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta — ended abruptly when a speeding Porsche, allegedly driven by an inebriated 17-and-a-half-year-old from a Pune realtor family, rammed into their motorcycle at Kalyani Nagar junction. What unfolded next was a story of alleged cover-ups, bribery, abuse of power, and tampered blood samples at the government-run Sassoon General Hospital. Here is a look at the characters of this story, 12 months down the line. The fatal accident had taken place after the minor and his friends had celebrated their Class 12 exam results at a pub. The minor was allegedly driving a Porsche Taycan luxury car, which did not have number plates. The Porsche car knocked down the Pulsar bike — which Awadhiya was riding and Koshta was riding pillion — later hit another car before coming to a halt. In an FIR initially registered at Yerawada police station, the minor was charged with causing death due to negligence but later, the more serious provision of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, was invoked against him. Police later told the court that reading recorded on the speedometer of the Porsche car at the time of activating the airbags was 110km/hour, implying that the impact of the crash must have happened at much higher speed than that. Following his detention after the accident on May 19 last year, the minor was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in Pune in the afternoon of the same day. The JJB had then granted bail to the accused on various conditions, including writing an essay, studying traffic safety norms and undergoing de-addiction counselling. After the public uproar, the minor was sent to an observation home on May 22. The board extended the remand multiple times, resulting in the minor remaining at observation for over a month. On June 24, the Bombay High Court ordered the release of the minor and allowed a habeas corpus plea filed by his aunt, seeking the quashing of remand orders by JJB. Observing that the remand was in-fact illegal and passed without jurisdiction, the Bombay High Court directed the minor be handed into the care of his paternal aunt, as at the time his parents and grandfather were in police custody. He was released on June 25. In the first week of July, he submitted his essay on traffic safety and subsequently complied with the bail conditions. In a supplementary final report submitted before the JJB, the police charged the minor with criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence alleging that the minor was involved in swapping of blood samples. An application by the police to try the minor driver as an adult is pending before the JJB. In September last year, the minor's lawyer informed the JJB that the minor was finding it difficult to get college admission because of the criminal proceedings. He turned 18 in the later part of last year. Police arrested the 51-year-old realtor father and 50-year-old mother of the minor and charged them with criminal conspiracy for allegedly orchestrating a swap of the teen's blood sample—collected at Sassoon Hospital—with the mother's. Days after the offence was registered against the father in the case, he was detained from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. The father has also been named as an accused in two more cases linked to the crash. He is an accused in the case under the provisions of Sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act on the charges of allowing his minor son to consume liquor and to drive the Porsche in an inebriated condition. He has also been booked — along with the minor's grandfather — for kidnapping, forceful confinement of the driver employed by the family and threatening him to take the blame for the accident. The minor's father continues to remain in prison under judicial custody as his bail applications have been rejected. In addition to the three cases linked to the crash, the father was booked in three more cases related to alleged property disputes and criminalities in the real estate business. In the last week of April this year, the mother of the minor was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court and walked out of the Yerawada Central Prison after spending close to 11 months in custody. Meanwhile, the Pune police have arrested a 37-year-old man, who had given his blood to be swapped with that of a minor co-passenger, along with the father of that co-passenger. The 52-year-old father of another minor co-passenger was also arrested earlier for giving his own blood sample to be swapped with his son. These three also remain in judicial custody. The Pune city police have impounded the Porsche car which was damaged in the accident. An application by the minor's family to release the car is pending in court. The minor's 78-year-old grandfather, who also heads the family owned realty business, faced public scrutiny after the incident and also a criminal case. The grandfather was booked and arrested for alleged abduction of the driver who was accompanying the minor at the time of the accident and pressuring him to take the blame for the fatal accident. Days after the incident, driver Gangadhar Herikrub (42) registered an FIR alleging that the minor's grandfather had forced him to sit in a car when he was trying to return home late evening on May 19 and then he was confined in his home without phone. He was threatened as well as promised 'gifts' for taking blame for the accident. Police told the court their probe revealed tampering of CCTV video footage seized from the minor's house, at the time when this particular offence was committed. The grandfather is out on bail. Dr Ajay Taware, head of the Forensic Medicine Department, was arrested on May 27 along with two others — Dr Shrihari Halnor, a casualty medical officer, and Atul Ghatkamble, a staffer from the hospital morgue — on charges of changing the sample collected from the minor with that of his mother, in exchange for money to help the minor's case. Probe had revealed that the original sample had been discarded in a dustbin at the hospital. The blood samples of two minor co-passengers were also swapped. Probe revealed that the father of the minor allegedly exchanged more than a dozen calls with Dr Ajay Taware over two hours before the minor's blood sample was collected on the morning of May 19. Police also said that that their probe suggested that changing the sample, to tamper with the blood alcohol concentration test, to scuttle the probe, was Dr Taware's idea. Police recovered Rs 3 lakh cash— Rs 2.5 lakh from Dr Halnor and Rs 50,000 from Ghatkamble — which probe suggested were their 'cuts' or commission. Police have not made public financial transactions with Dr Taware, how much amount he received or was promised to him and by whom. Taware, Halnor and Ghatkamble were immediately suspended. In April this year, the Maharashtra Medical Council suspended the medical licence of Taware and Halnor. Taware, Halnor and Ghatkamble are currently in judicial custody. Police had also arrested and charged Ashpak Basha Makandar (36) and Amar Gaikwad (27), who acted as middlemen between the father of the juvenile and the two doctors and a staffer of the Sassoon General hospital. Both Makandar and Gaikwad are currently in judicial custody. The handling of the Porsche crash case in the initial stages by the officers of the Yerwada police station had received heavy criticism. The 'weak' sections applied as well as delay in collection of the blood sample drew criticism along with allegations of 'VIP treatment' given to the minor accused. The police had initially invoked IPC Section 304A, which pertains to causing death by negligence. It later invoked IPC section 304, which pertains to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Considering the allegation and based on findings of an internal probe, Pune police suspended police inspector Rahul Jagdale and assistant police inspector Vishwanaath Todkari for dereliction in performing their duty. In the last week of March this year, the Pune city police recommended their dismissal from service. Sunil Tingre, the then NCP MLA of Vadgaon Sheri Assembly constituency where the accident occurred, came in the eye of a storm in the aftermath of the accident for more than one reason. Notably, Tingre lost the November 2024 assembly election to Bapusaheb Pathare of the NCP (SP). Tingre had reached the accident spot and the Yerwada police station within an hour of the incident after getting to know about it from his workers as well as the juvenile accused's father. There were allegations that he influenced the probe and application of the sections against the minor. He had denied these allegations. Pune police later confirmed that they had in fact questioned Tingre during the investigation but found nothing to charge him. Tingre's name again came up some time later after a recommendation letter allegedly written by him for Dr Taware in December 2023 backing him for the post of Medical Superintendent, Sassoon Hospital, resurfaced on social media. With it, the letter brought the allegations of Tingre having a long association with the doctor accused of swapping the blood sample of the minor involved in the Porsche crash. The JJB — which consisted of just one non-judicial member instead of its full strength of three including one judicial member — had granted bail to the minor, also drew criticism. Dr L N Danawade, the non-judicial member of the JJB, was the sole signatory of the order. Another member of the JJB Kavita Thorat gave her assent to the order the next day. In October last year, the Maharashtra government terminated their services on the charges of misuse of power, following an inquiry.
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Time of India
SC grants bail to Porsche crash accused's mom
NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to mother of teen who while driving his father's Porsche hit a motorcycle from behind killing IT professionals Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta in Pune on May 19 last year. Shivani Agarwal had been arrested for allegedly switching blood samples of her 17-year-old son. She had paid Rs 3 lakh to a person to swap blood samples of her son with her own at Sassoon hospital. The teenager, after arrest, was enlarged on bail by Juvenile Justice Board on the condition that he write a 300-word essay on road safety
