Minor accused in Pune Porsche crash will not be tried as adult
The board ruled that the Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) will be tried under juvenile provisions, and not as an adult, thereby continuing the legal process as per the norms applicable to minors.Pune Police had argued for an adult trial, citing the gravity of the offence. The police said that the boy committed a "heinous" act as not only were two people crushed to death, but there were also attempts to tamper with the evidence.The accused got bail hours after the accident on lenient terms, including writing a 300-word essay on road safety. This triggered a nationwide firestorm, following which he was sent to an observation home in Pune city three days later.On June 25, 2024, the Bombay High Court directed that the boy be released immediately, saying the Juvenile Justice Board's orders remanding him to an observation home were illegal and the law regarding juveniles must be implemented fully.The accused's mother was arrested for tampering with evidence by replacing her son's blood samples with hers. She was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in April this year.- EndsTune InMust Watch
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Print
2 days ago
- The Print
Fauja Singh's death shows Indian roads remain a national emergency—474 lives lost every day
The incident has once again brought into focus one of India's long-standing and recurring concerns: road safety and the lack of traffic discipline. Public safety and road behaviour are as much a reflection of India as its geopolitical standing or economic indicators. That is why India's ongoing road safety crisis is ThePrint's Newsmaker of the Week. The driver, 26-year-old non-resident Indian (NRI) Amritpal Singh Dhillon, has been arrested. Singh, a widely admired personality, was crossing the road in his village in Jalandhar when Dhillon ran him over with his Toyota Fortuner. Delhi : Veteran marathon runner Fauja Singh died at the age of 114. It was not an age-related death, but an accident. Singh was hit by a speeding car on the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway on 14 July. It was only last year that India witnessed one of the most horrific accidents in recent memory — the Pune Porsche case. A 17-year-old boy, driving his parents' Porsche while allegedly intoxicated, mowed down two people riding a motorcycle. The incident sparked further outrage when the Juvenile Justice Board granted him bail within hours, imposing lenient conditions like writing a 300-word essay on road safety, attending counselling at an alcohol de-addiction centre, and assisting traffic police for 15 days. A year later — and coincidentally a day after Singh's death — the board rejected the Pune city police's plea to try him as an adult. Also read: Pimpri Chinchwad shows how to put people before vehicles. It's a model for urban India Sharp rise in road accidents in India According to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways data, hit-and-run cases in India have risen sharply — from 53,334 in 2014 to 67,387 in 2022. In 2023 alone, over 172,000 people died in road accidents — amounting to 474 deaths each day, or nearly one every three minutes. Of these, 54,000 people died because they were not wearing helmets, and 16,000 because they were not wearing seat belts. These numbers are a stark reminder of how deadly Indian roads remain. In December last year, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said these accidents were happening because people lack respect and fear for the law. 'There are many reasons for accidents, but the biggest reason is human behaviour,' Gadkari had said. Every year, there is news about the government working to identify and rectify black spots — stretches of road known for frequent accidents — and launching campaigns asking citizens to take road safety pledges. According to a 2021 notification by the Government of India, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways identified 5,803 black spots on National Highways across 30 states and Union Territories, based on accident and fatality data from 2015 to 2018. Of these, temporary safety measures were implemented at 5,366 spots, while 3,215 had been permanently rectified, the ministry said. Also read: Traffic safety doesn't have to depend on CCTVs. New satellite tech is changing the game Overcrowded roads, apathetic public Road accidents also highlight how Indian roads are used — and mismanaged. Most roads are overcrowded, with motorised vehicles like cars, autos, and two-wheelers jostling for space alongside bicycles, carts, and rickshaws. Hawkers often occupy sidewalks, and haphazard parking narrows the usable road space even further. A report by Down to Earth links rising road fatalities to India's mobility systems. According to the report, over 90 vehicles are registered every minute, and more than 88 per cent of these are private cars or two-wheelers. One positive example comes from Kolkata, which has taken some proactive measures for road safety by implementing scientifically backed speed limits, capping vehicle speeds at 50 km/hr in urban areas and even lower in high-risk zones. Whether such measures, if applied to other cities, will yield results remains to be seen. But road accidents are not only taking lives — they are also affecting the country's GDP. In March, Gadkari said that India loses 3 per cent of its GDP due to around five lakh road accidents every year. He made these remarks while addressing AMCHAM's conference on Technology Interventions for road safety: US-India Partnership. Gadkari also criticised Detailed Project Report (DPR) consultants for poor planning and execution. 'DPR consultants are the main culprits who are responsible for the road accidents. (They prepare DPRs) sometimes because of cost-saving, other different reasons and non-serious approach,' Gadkari said. But ultimately, as Gadkari says, it's human behaviour that can bring real change. (Edited by Prashant)
Hans India
3 days ago
- Hans India
ED, ATS, and now land fraud: Chhangur Baba's legal troubles mount
Pune/Lonavala: In a dramatic twist to the controversies surrounding self-styled spiritual leader Chhangur Baba, Mumbai-based businessman Mohammad Ahmed has come forward with serious allegations of intimidation, fraud, and criminal conspiracy related to a high-value land deal in Lonavala. Speaking to the media, Ahmed claimed that he was 'threatened and harassed' by Chhangur Baba and his associates after a registered agreement for the sale of land turned sour. Mohammad Ahmed had entered into a land deal in 2023 with Chhangur Baba for a plot measuring 1.87 lakh square feet in Lonavala. As part of the agreement, Chhangur Baba committed to paying Rs 16.5 crore to Ahmed through a registered agreement. However, after paying an initial amount of Rs 49 lakh, Chhangur Baba allegedly began delaying the remaining payment. The agreement was valid for 12 months, but before the term could expire, Ahmed alleges that Chhangur Baba began delaying the transaction and attempting to take control of the land without fulfilling the financial terms. "He began avoiding further payments, and when I insisted, I was threatened and pressured. It was clear that he wanted to grab the land without honouring the agreement," Ahmed said. Fearing foul play, Ahmed filed a civil suit in the Vadgaon Maval Court in Pune seeking cancellation of the agreement. He also accused Chhangur Baba of attempting to misuse his influence in Uttar Pradesh to have false criminal cases filed against him. 'When that didn't work, he tried to use local goons to threaten me and my family. Out of fear, I remained silent. But now, with so many cases surfacing against him, I have decided to go to the Pune Police,' Ahmed added. Ahmed further alleged that close aides of Chhangur Baba, including Abid Rabbani and Sameer Srivastava, were involved in managing his unaccounted wealth and hiding their real identities. He claimed that proceeds from other land sales, including five bighas in Chitayan village in Uttar Pradesh's Utraula area, were being funnelled into illegal religious conversion activities. The new allegations come as Chhangur Baba, whose real name is Jamaluddin, faces serious legal scrutiny. Earlier this month, he was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for allegedly masterminding a large-scale religious conversion racket. He is said to have targeted members of the Scheduled Castes and economically weaker sections across multiple states. Two of his key associates, Neetu alias Nasreen and her husband Naveen, have also been sent behind bars. In the wake of the ATS complaint, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a case on July 9 to probe money laundering and foreign funding linked to the alleged conversions. Authorities have revealed that Chhangur Baba amassed assets worth over Rs 100 crore in a short span. This raises serious questions about the source of his wealth and the network supporting him. Ahmed has now decided to he would file a formal complaint with Pune Police, alleging land fraud, criminal intimidation, and attempted extortion. 'This is not just about one deal - it's about a much larger racket involving illegal funding, conversion, and intimidation. It's time the truth comes out,' he said.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
‘No fundamental right to adopt US citizen': Bombay High Court dismisses couple's plea to adopt relative's son
The Bombay High Court Wednesday dismissed a plea by a Pune-based couple that challenged the decision of the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) to deny their request to adopt a six-year-old son who is a United States citizen. His biological parents are related to the petitioner couple. The court said it was 'clear that there was no provision in Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (JJ Act), 2015 nor the Adoption Regulations providing for adoption of a child of foreign citizenship even between relative, unless the 'child is in need of care and protection' or a 'child is in conflict with law (CCL)''. A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Neela K Gokhale in its verdict noted that the plea 'brings to the attention of the Court an unprecedented situation relating to the applicability of the JJ Act and the Adoption Regulations framed under the said Act, to the adoption of a child being a citizen of the USA by relatives of the child's biological parents.' Advocates Shirin Merchant and Stuti Oswal, for the petitioners, sought direction from the CARA to register them as prospective adoptive parents and issue a pre-approval letter to facilitate the adoption of the US national boy, who is the son of the petitioner woman's sister. The petitioner couple stated that as they were unable to bear a child, they desired to adopt the boy. He was born in the US in 2019 and holds a US passport. The petitioner couple, with the intention of adopting him, brought the boy to India when he was a few months old. The CARA rejected their request for adoption on the grounds that the regulations do not permit the facilitation of the adoption of an American citizen. The couple had also approached the Pune district court seeking adoption, which was pending due to the CARA's refusal to approve the adoption. Advocate Merchant claimed before the high court that US authorities were likely to refuse renewal of the boy's passport without a valid adoption order, and his stay in India may become illegal. The plea added that the child is attending school in India and is required to travel to the US every year to renew his visa, failing which he may become an illegal migrant in India; therefore, considering his 'stability, identity and future prospects', the CARA should be directed to give clearance for adoption. The petitioners sought the relaxation of guidelines and the granting of an exception to regulations by the CARA. Moreover, the biological parents of the child, through advocate Yugandhara Khanwilkar, claimed that the present adoption would fall under the ambit of in-country adoption and not inter-country adoption as the petitioners and their biological parents are Indian citizens. Justice Gokhale observed that such private and relative intercountry adoptions were 'incompatible' with the International Hague Convention on Adoption of Children, of which India is a signatory. The high court said such adoptions are not considered authorised adoptions. There is no fundamental right of the petitioners to adopt an American child who does not fall within the applicability of the JJ Act and the regulations, even if he is born to Indian parents, the court noted. 'Neither is there any violation of any fundamental right of the child of American nationality to be adopted by an Indian citizen,' the high court recorded. It added that while the petitioners' difficulty can easily be resolved based on the CARA's suggestion that the child can apply for Indian citizenship and then follow the procedure under the JJ Act, or the petitioners can process the adoption in the US as per the laws applicable in that country. However, the court noted that the petitioners were not inclined to accept the suggestion, and it was inclined to dismiss the petition.
