New Delhi: In the Pune car crash case, all six accused, including the father of the juvenile involved, have been remanded in judicial custody until June 7 by a Court. The decision comes as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident, which has garnered significant attention.
The prosecution sought an extension of police custody for further investigation, but the court instead remanded Agarwal and others, including the owner and employees of two liquor-serving establishments, in judicial custody. Agarwal and the other five accused appeared before Additional Sessions Judge S P Ponkshe as their police custody concluded.
The other accused are Naman Bhutada, owner of Cosie Restaurant, its manager Sachin Katkar; manager of Black Club Sandip Sangale and its employees Jayesh Gavkar and Nitesh Shevani.
Agarwal, a real estate developer, was arrested under sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act, while the others were booked for allegedly serving alcohol to an underage person.
Accused Didn't Have The License
Section 75 pertains to willful neglect of a child or exposing them to mental or physical harm, while Section 77 deals with supplying intoxicating substances to a child. The FIR alleges that despite knowing his son lacked a valid driver's license, Agarwal (50) allowed him to drive the car, endangering his life, and permitted him to consume alcohol.
During the hearing, the prosecution sought an extension of police custody to investigate further, citing that the juvenile had paid a bill of Rs 47,000 at Cosie Restaurant on the night of the incident.
They aimed to trace the payment details and added Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC to the charges against Agarwal for failing to pay RTO fees for the Porsche's registration. Additionally, the police sought to interrogate the driver who was allegedly in the passenger seat during the accident, in order to advance their investigation.
The prosecution revealed that police had confiscated a register from the juvenile's house entry gate, indicating that he had taken out the high-end car on Saturday evening. They also recovered CCTV footage from the premises, which was set to undergo forensic examination.
Agarwal's lawyer, advocate Prashant Patil, and advocate S K Jain, representing the other accused, contended that police custody was unnecessary. Following deliberation, the judge remanded all six accused to judicial custody until June 7. The accused are anticipated to file bail applications on Monday, as per the lawyers.