Supreme Court grants bail to 3 accused of tampering evidence in Pune Porsche crash case

THe sublime margaret court on mon granted bail bond to triad men accused of evidence tampering in the 2024 Pune Porsche crash case, even as it observed that parents are to be blamed for such incidents involving juveniles as they do not have control over their children.A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the three persons –– the father of one of the juveniles present in the car, Ashish Satish Mittal and Amar Santosh Gaikwad –– to be released on bail on conditions to be fixed by the trial court. The court further directed them not to establish any contact with the witnesses in the case, either directly or indirectly, violation of which will result in cancellation of bail.The court further asked the three accused to cooperate with the trial after the state government, represented by its chief standing counsel Siddharth Dharmadhikari, alleged that the accused had held up the proceedings and had even obtained a stay on the framing of charges.The bench said, “You focus on the offence, prosecute and convict them. The accused here are alleged to have helped two juveniles who are not the main accused in the crime. Can there be a punishment before conviction?”Another fact that weighed with the court was the 18 month-long incarceration undergone by the three accused. Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Siddharth Dave and Siddharth Aggarwal, appearing for the accused, told the court that the allegation against their clients is of helping two juveniles who were not driving the car.The father is accused of changing the blood sample of his minor son, while the other two accused –– Mittal and Gaikwad –– are middlemen who allegedly accepted a bribe for facilitating the swapping of the blood samples of the two minors at Sasoon Hospital.The main accused, who is a child in conflict with law (CCL), is being tried as a juvenile, while his father who is alleged to have been part of the conspiracy in evidence tampering is yet to approach the top court against the Bombay High Court’s common order of December last year denying bail to seven people.The state, in its affidavit, told the court that the investigation of the case has revealed a “disturbing pattern of criminal conduct” as the family of the main juvenile accused is known to resort to “influence, money power and unlawful means” and any relief shown to the accused will impact the trial of the case.The bench agreed that the conduct of the juvenile offenders are not acceptable at all. “Allowing children to consume alcohol and giving them a car for celebrating like this. Ultimately it shows parents are unable to control children and see how innocent people have been killed in the name of this celebration,” the bench observed.According to the prosecution, on May 19, 2024, the car was driven by a 17-year-old boy, under the alleged influence of alcohol, returning from a late night party with his two friends. The crash occurred a little after 2am when the car rammed a bike near Kalyani Nagar in Pune, killing the two IT professionals –– Anis Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta.