Pune Porsche Crash: SC Notice to Maha Govt on Bail Pleas of Accused
Aditya Avinash Sood (52) and Ashish Satish Mittal (37) were arrested on August 19 last year, as their blood samples were used for tests in connection with two minors who were in the car along with the 17-year-old main accused at the time of the accident
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wedesday sought a response from the Maharashtra government on bail pleas filed by two accused in the May 2024 Pune Porsche car accident case. The case relates to an incident on May 19, 2024, when a Porsche car, allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy under the influence of alcohol, mowed down two IT professionals in the Kalyani Nagar area of Pune, killing them on the spot.
The petitioners, Aditya Avinash Sood, 52, and Ashish Satish Mittal, 37, were arrested on August 19 last year for allegedly swapping blood samples during tests conducted in connection with two minors who were in the car along with the juvenile prime accused at the time of the accident.
A two-judge Bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to the state government on their pleas challenging a Bombay High Court order rejecting their bail applications. On December 16 last year, the High Court had rejected the bail pleas of eight accused, including Sood and Mittal. Earlier, the Juvenile Justice Board had granted bail to the minor accused on lenient terms, triggering nationwide outrage. The conditions included directing the juvenile to write a 300-word essay on road safety.
Following public backlash, Pune police approached the Juvenile Justice Board seeking a review of its decision, after which the Board modified its order and sent the juvenile to an observation home. However, in June, the High Court ordered the juvenile’s release.
While the juvenile has since been released, a total of 10 accused, including his parents Vishal Agarwal and Shivani Agarwal, doctors Ajay Tawre and Shreehari Halnor, Sassoon Hospital staffer Atul Ghatkamble, two middlemen, and three others, including Sood, Mittal and Arun Kumar Singh, were arrested and sent to jail in connection with the blood sample swapping case.
