Old clip, says family of teen accused in Pune Porsche case after celebration video goes viral

Pune: A video allegedly showing Vishal Agarwal, father of the minor accused in the Pune Porsche crash case, celebrating his bail with family members has gone viral on social media, triggering outrage online.

Rubbishing the viral clip, the family on Wednesday said the video was shot in 2023 and not following his release after the Supreme Court granted him bail in March this year.

The apex court granted bail to Vishal Agarwal, who is alleged to have conspired to swap blood samples to shield his son from legal consequences after a fatal accident in 2024.

The viral video shows Agarwal dancing with his wife and son at what appears to be a local restaurant while live music plays in the background.

In a statement shared by his legal team, Agarwal said the video in circulation on social media and television channels was shot on September 2, 2023, during his 25th wedding anniversary celebrations in Goa. He said the footage shows him with his wife Shivani and close family and friends at a hotel in Goa.

The Goa hotel event took place much before the registration of the offence in the Porsche car crash at Yerwada police station in Pune on May 19, 2024, the statement said. It asked media portals and channels to immediately take down the video and issue clarifications, saying the reports were based on false and defamatory information.

Agarwal said the circulation of the clip had caused mental trauma to his family and could prejudice the right to a free and fair trial.

He said the family is pursuing legal recourse over the “leak” of private videos, calling it an infringement of the right to privacy guaranteed under the Constitution.

He expressed apprehension that some individuals were attempting to create a negative public perception amid pending court proceedings.

Advocate Dhvani Shah said the video is not a recent recording, but an old video from the wedding anniversary celebration held in 2023. "The clip is being shared out of context, which has unfortunately led to unnecessary speculation and the creation of a misleading narrative. We request everyone not to draw conclusions based on outdated content and to refrain from spreading unverified information," she said.

A Porsche car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old minor crashed into a motorcycle, in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area on May 19, 2024, killing two IT professionals.

Vishal Agarwal is among the 10 accused arrested in connection with the alleged swapping of blood samples of the juvenile driver and his two minor friends, who were in the Porsche.

According to the prosecution, the juvenile’s blood samples were replaced with those of his mother at Sassoon General Hospital, allegedly with the help of two doctors, to conceal that he was under the influence of alcohol.

“I genuinely don’t understand how people are celebrating bail when two people are dead. Every time the Pune Porsche accident comes back into the news, it somehow gets even uglier,” a user said on X.

“My blood is boiling. This is the family of that Porsche guy who killed two innocent engineers in a road accident. The accused got bail, and now look at them celebrating like he did something heroic. No regret, no shame,” another user posted.