Mumbai: Observing that it was “necessary to curb activities that spoil children and cause a threat to society,” Bombay High Court declined to grant bail to a teen accused of rashly crashing his father’s car into a scooter in Feb. The scooterist, businessman Dhrumil Patel, died 10 days later while undergoing treatment for his injuries, while his wife, the pillion rider, became permanently disabled.
The collision occurred close to midnight on Feb 5 at Vidyavihar. Police arrested the teen, then aged 17 years and 8 months. On March 6, a magistrate at Juvenile Justice Board in Dongri granted bail to the minor, which the sessions court, in an appeal filed by the injured victim, cancelled.
The teen challenged the bail cancellation before HC. Dismissing his plea, a single-judge bench of Justice Shivkumar Dige at HC in a Sept 9 order, available on Wednesday, said he was as good as 18 years old—an adult—and “though he is a student, keeping him in a reformative home would make him understand gravity of his act.” HC said though while on bail he was to stay in Navi Mumbai, during an enquiry, the police did not find him there nor did he contact the cops, thus showing his “scant respect for the orders.
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Advocate Jitesh Jadhav for the teen sought bail saying the crash was not intentional, it “happened suddenly” and considering his age and that he is a student, no purpose would be served by keeping him at an observation home.
In his reasons to not cancel the bail, Justice Dige said, “When he was a child, there was no parental control over him” and he “would be exposed to moral, physical and psychological danger due to the lack of parental control. He may again indulge in a stunt act with his friends, causing danger to others. It will defeat ends of justice.”
Besides, HC noted, the stunt videos are deleted from the teen’s Instagram account, which amounts to destruction of evidence, and his friend has been charged with the offence.
Advocates Atharva Dandekar and Ruben Mascarenhas for the widow and B B Kulkarni, a prosecutor, opposed the grant of bail arguing the boy had a “habit of performing stunts on bikes and cars” on public roads, which was dangerous to the public.
HC said screenshots of the stunts from social media show how he put not only his own but the health and safety of others at risk. Justice Dige said, “Resultantly, one person has lost his life and other became completely paralysed” for no fault of theirs. “Sessions Judge has passed a well-reasoned order, therefore no interference is required in it,” HC held and dismissed the teen’s plea.
