'Parents to blame': Supreme Court grants bail to three accused in Pune Porsche crash case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to three accused in the Pune Porsche hit-and-run case, where two people died allegedly due to rash and negligent driving by a juvenile in May 2024.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, however, expressed its concern, saying it was saddening how irresponsible such parents are who provide their juvenile children with high-speed cars and let them indulge in celebrating with substances such as alcohol and drugs.

"Celebration is not on the basis of substance (abuse) and driving in speed. Two innocent people are killed. There are innocent people sleeping on the road, this is not the first time this has happened. The main one responsible are the parents who are giving them sufficient funds for a gala time," the bench said.

The court also went on to criticise the parents, who have no time to spend with their children.

"That is why the best thing is to give them ATM card and a mobile phone. The law has to catch up. See, two innocent lives are lost and all these mechanisations. But it’s liberty vs all this," Justice Nagarathna said.

The court ordered release of three accused Aditya Sood, Ashish Mittal and Santosh Gaikwad, who were accused to have helped the juvenile’s family to tamper with evidence by swapping blood samples.

The court clarified that they would not misuse liberty.

"Any violation of condition would result in cancellation of bail," the court said.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the father of one of the victims, opposed their bail pleas.

One of the accused granted bail is the father of a juvenile passenger who was seated in the back seat of the Porsche. The second accused is a friend of the father of the other back-seat passenger. The third accused is an assistant of the doctor who examined the medical evidence and is alleged to have accepted Rs 3 lakh from the parents to swap the blood sample in order to shield the juvenile driver from prosecution.

They were arrested under various provisions of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) and Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act for forgery, evidence tampering, and bribery.

The High Court had earlier said that granting bail to financially well-placed accused in the case could risk witness tampering and obstruct justice.

As per the prosecution case, on May 19, 2024, a Porsche car, allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy under the influence of alcohol, fatally knocked down two IT professionals in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area.