Prosecution urges JJB to treat Porsche case accused as adult; defence cites SC judgment to oppose

Pune: The prosecution on Monday urged the Juvenile Justice Board to treat the 17-year-old boy accused of driving a Porsche car in an inebriated state and mowing down two persons on May 19 last year in Pune as an adult since the act he committed was "heinous".

The incident, which hit national headlines, took place in Kalyani Nagar area that day, resulting in the deaths of motorcycle-borne IT professionals Anish Awadhiya and his friend Ashwini Costa.

It has been more than a year since the Pune police's plea seeking that the accused be tried as an adult is pending before the Juvenile Justice Board.

'"The Pune police had moved an application before the JJB court after the accident that the teen should be treated as an adult for the trial. But the defence sought adjournment multiple times. The defence was not allowing the hearing to take place. Today, finally, the hearing on the plea took place. We demanded that the teen be treated as an adult for the trial," special public prosecutor advocate Shishir Hiray said.

"I argued that the act committed by the juvenile is a heinous one as not only were two persons crushed to death but there were also attempts to tamper with evidence. I drew the attention of the JJB members to the gravity of the crime. I argued that it was known to the juvenile that he could cause harm to others by driving a car in an inebriated condition," Hiray said.

The juvenile's lawyer Prashant Patil, who opposed the prosecution's demand, said he cited the Supreme Court's judgment in the Shilpa Mittal versus State case, which defines what is a heinous crime.

"The plea by the prosecution is contrary to the Supreme Court Judgement. We demanded that since the plea is contrary to the guidelines of the Supreme Court, it is not maintainable. To define a certain crime as heinous, the prosecution must have a section in which minimum punishment is seven years," Patil said.

"In the present case, there is not a single section in which the minimum punishment is seven years. The JJB has to carry out preliminary assessment to determine whether a child in conflict with law (CCL) should be treated as an adult or a minor. In this case, the JJB has already done that. And it has not come in their preliminary assessment that he should be treated as an adult," Patil said.