Juvenile Justice Board took lenient view of a heinous crime: Fadnavis on Pune car crash

Maharashtra Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis addresses a press conference at Pune Police Commissioner`s office. Pic/ PTI

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday expressed shock over the Juvenile Justice Board's lenient action with regards to the Pune car crash involving a minor boy who fatally knocked down two motorbike-borne IT professionals with his speeding Porsche, reported PTI.

Amid an outrage over the accident involving the 17-year-old boy who crashed his Porsche car into a motorcycle in Kalyani Nagar in the early hours of Sunday allegedly in an inebriated state, Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, made a surprise visit to the Pune Police commissionerate office to review the case.

Addressing the media after meeting police commissioner Amitesh Kumar and other officials, Fadnavis said the police have approached higher court seeking permission to try the juvenile, who was granted bail, as an adult.

After the crash, the accused teenager was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board which granted him bail hours later. It also directed him to visit the Regional Transport Office and study traffic rules, and submit a presentation to the Board within 15 days.

"The CCL (Child in Conflict with Law) will write an essay of 300 words on the topic of road accidents and their solutions," the JJ board order read.

"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.

The higher court has asked the police to approach the JJ board again and seek a review of its order, said the deputy CM.

"The police have approached the JJ board and filed a review petition. If the order is not reviewed, then the police will approach the higher court," he said.

On the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, the accused juvenile along with his friends went to two hotels between 9.30 pm and 1 am and allegedly consumed liquor, according to police.

The CCTV footage of one of the hotels clearly shows the juvenile was consuming alcohol, police commissioner Kumar earlier said.

The two IT professionals (both aged 24) killed in the crash were identified as Anis Awadhiya and Ashwini Costa, hailing from Madhya Pradesh.

(With inputs from PTI)