Porsche teen also in trauma, give him some time, says HC

MUMBAI: "Two people have lost their lives. There was trauma but the child (juvenile in conflict with law) was also in trauma, give him some time," said Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande of Bombay high court while hearing a plea against his "illegal detention" following "public pressure".
The teen was allegedly speeding with the high-end luxury set of wheels in Pune in an intoxicated state on May 19, when the car crashed into a bike, killing two software engineers, Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta.
HC on Friday closed for orders a habeas corpus petition filed by a Delhi-based paternal aunt of the minor. She sought his release from an alleged illegal detention, three days after being released on bail. Last Friday, HC had declined urgent relief on the plea.
Senior counsel Aabad Ponda for the family said the actions of the state acting under alleged public pressure raised significant questions . He said the court has to consider whether a child who is released on bail and continues to be on bail could be remanded to an observation home, contending there was an express prohibition in the Juvenile Justice Act to do so.
HC on Friday asked the police under which legal provision had the teen been sent back to the observation home after his release on bail.
State public prosecutor H S Venegaonkar opposed the plea, saying it was not maintainable as the minor is detained under a court order and is in an observation home, not jail.
"Can this be done without re-arrest or having bail cancelled?" asked Ponda. He added, "Does Section 104 of JJ Act permit review or only amendment? Is Section 39 (2) of JJ Act not an express bar to sending a person on bail to an observation home?" He went on to question, "If there are errors in bail order, is it not to be appealed in a higher forum and not reviewed by the same court is 104 without any power under that section of review?"
On May 19, a Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) granted the boy bail. It directed him to write a 300-word essay on road safety as bail conditions. Police sought to appeal and on May 22, JJB remanded him to a children's observation home.
HC asked orally, "What kind of remand is this?"
"Is this not confinement?" HC added, questioning why the police did not apply for bail cancellation.
Ponda said a citizen's liberty has been "trampled upon". Venegaonkar said the JJB order was valid as instead of his parents, the boy was now under the care of a probation officer.
HC will pass orders on June 25. Till then, the teen has been remanded to the observation home in Pune.