The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to an
accused in the 2024 Pune Porsche accident case on grounds of parity.
The case relates to a May 19, 2024, incident in
which a Porsche car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy under the influence
of alcohol, fatally knocked down two IT professionals in Pune's Kalyani Nagar
area.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan
noted that Ashpak Basha Makandar had been in jail since 20 months while three
other accused have already been granted bail.
It was alleged that Makandar facilitated the
criminal conspiracy to tamper with medical evidence by swapping of blood
samples of the minor occupants with those of their guardians at the hospital.
"Senior counsel appearing for the appellant
submitted that the appellant is similarly placed to the co-accused who has
already been granted bail in this matter. Bail granted in terms of the order
passed," the bench said.
The top court on February 2 had granted bail to
three accused in the case while observing that parents are to be blamed for
such incidents involving juveniles as they don't have control over their
children.
Noting that the accused -- Amar Santish Gaikwad
(alleged middleman), Aditya Avinash Sood and Ashish Satish Mittal (parents of
two other juveniles in the car) -- had been in custody for 18 months, the bench
had granted bail to them.
On January 23, the top court sought a response from
the Maharashtra government on a plea filed by Gaikwad seeking bail in the case.
Earlier on January 7, the top court sought a
response from the Maharashtra government on pleas filed by two other accused
seeking bail in the case.
Sood (52) and Mittal (37) were arrested on August 19
last year, as their blood samples were used for tests in connection with two
minors who were in the car along with the 17-year-old main accused at the time
of the accident.
The Bombay High Court on December 16 last year
rejected the bail pleas of eight accused, including Gaikwad, Sood and Mittal,
in the case.