Porsche car crash: Two sacked Juvenile Justice Board members move HC; notice issued to govt

Pune: The Bombay High Court has issued a notice to the Maharashtra government on the pleas filed by two sacked Juvenile Justice Board members, challenging the termination of their services in connection with bail granted to a juvenile accused allegedly involved in the Pune Porsche car crash case.

In October last year, the government had terminated the services of the two JJB members - L N Danavade and Kavita Thorat - citing procedural lapses and misuse of powers under the Juvenile Justice Act.

The action followed a probe by the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department, which found them guilty of misconduct and non-compliance with norms while granting bail to the juvenile.

After the termination of their services, Danavade and Thorat approached the high court through advocate Harshavardhan Pawar, contending that their removal from the JJB was "illegal".

On April 23, a bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and M M Sathaye issued a notice to the state WCD department and posted the matter for further hearing on June 18.

Thorat in her plea had claimed that the government had in June last year issued a show-cause notice to her to which she had submitted a reply.

An inquiry was held, after which she was terminated.

However, a copy of the inquiry report was not supplied to the petitioner, the plea claimed.

Hence, the action of terminating the appointment of the petitioner as a Member of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), Pune is illegal, it claimed.

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.

Danavade granted bail to the minor accused on lenient terms, sparking nationwide outrage. The bail conditions included writing a 300-word essay on road safety.

As bail to the accused juvenile triggered an outrage, the Pune police approached the JJB to review its decision. The board then modified the order and sent the juvenile to an observation home. In June, the high court ordered the release of the juvenile.

While the juvenile involved in the case was released from an observation home, a total of 10 accused - his parents Vishal Agarwal and Shivani Agarwal, two doctors - Ajay Tawre and Shreehari Halnor, Sassoon hospital's staffer Atul Ghatkamble, two middlemen and three others - Aditya Avinash Sood, Ashish Mittal and Arun Kumar Singh - are in jail in the blood sample swapping case.