SLUG: PORSCHE CASE
Pune: The Bombay high court on Wednesday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of a labour contractor — the father of one of the two minors accompanying the 17-year-old Porsche Taycan car driver in the May 19 crash — wanted on charges of conspiracy and manipulation of blood alcohol test of his minor son.
The bench of Justice Manish Pitale held that there was a strong prima facie case made out against the (bail) applicant of forging a valuable security to secure a favourable alcohol examination certificate based on deception and creation of documents in conspiracy with co-accused Dr (Shrihari) Halnor.
Two software engineers were killed when the Porsche car driven by the son of a prominent city builder hit their bike from behind in Kalyaninagar. The teenage driver's case is pending before the Juvenile Justice Board in Pune. The police have so far arrested the teenager's parents, two doctors and a mortuary staffer (all three suspended) of the Sassoon General Hospital, two middlemen, the father of the other accompanying minor and the labour contractor's friend on charges of conspiracy and manipulation of blood alcohol tests. They are lodged in Yerawada central prison.
It is the police's case that as part of a conspiracy, the teenage driver's blood sample was replaced with that of his mother's and the blood samples of the accompanying minors were replaced with those of the arrested father of one of them and the labour contractor's friend.
The labour contractor moved the high court after a Pune sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail plea on Sept 9.
Justice Pitale observed, ".... the deception here was practised by labeling the subject blood sample as that of the minor son of the applicant, while in reality it was the blood sample of co-accused .... The applicant, being the father of the said minor son, was part of the conspiracy under Section 120-B of the IPC to bring about such deception by affixing a label to show the blood sample to be that of the minor son, while it was the blood sample of co-accused ...."
The bench said, "It is the said label affixed on the blood sample that was the basis of deception, read with the documents created in conspiracy with co-accused Dr (Shrihari) Halnor. Hence, the contention raised on behalf of the applicant that the blood sample is not a ‘document' pales into insignificance."
The bench said, "It is due to this deception practised on the assistant chemical analyzer that he had no knowledge of the nature of alteration, resulting in the said alcohol examination certificate (to the effect that there was no alcohol trace) being signed, sealed and executed."
The bench held, "Viewed from this angle, the contention raised on behalf of the respondent State that the applicant was very much part of the conspiracy in committing the offence under Section 464 (making a false document) of the IPC, holds good. There is a strong prima facie case made out against the applicant for offence committed under Section 467 (forgery of valuable security) of the IPC, read with Section 464 thereof. The said document clearly answers the definition of ‘valuable security' under Section 30 of the IPC, as it certainly created a right in the accused minor son of the applicant of portraying innocence," the bench held.
Assistant commissioner of police (crime) Ganesh Ingale, investigating the case, said, "Our teams are working on tracing the whereabouts of the wanted accused and we hope to arrest him soon."
Lawyer Abid Mulani, presenting the labour contractor, told TOI, "Our client will file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the dismissal of the anticipatory bail plea."
Pune: The Bombay high court on Wednesday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of a labour contractor — the father of one of the two minors accompanying the 17-year-old Porsche Taycan car driver in the May 19 crash — wanted on charges of conspiracy and manipulation of blood alcohol test of his minor son.
The bench of Justice Manish Pitale held that there was a strong prima facie case made out against the (bail) applicant of forging a valuable security to secure a favourable alcohol examination certificate based on deception and creation of documents in conspiracy with co-accused Dr (Shrihari) Halnor.
Two software engineers were killed when the Porsche car driven by the son of a prominent city builder hit their bike from behind in Kalyaninagar. The teenage driver's case is pending before the Juvenile Justice Board in Pune. The police have so far arrested the teenager's parents, two doctors and a mortuary staffer (all three suspended) of the Sassoon General Hospital, two middlemen, the father of the other accompanying minor and the labour contractor's friend on charges of conspiracy and manipulation of blood alcohol tests. They are lodged in Yerawada central prison.
It is the police's case that as part of a conspiracy, the teenage driver's blood sample was replaced with that of his mother's and the blood samples of the accompanying minors were replaced with those of the arrested father of one of them and the labour contractor's friend.
The labour contractor moved the high court after a Pune sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail plea on Sept 9.
Justice Pitale observed, ".... the deception here was practised by labeling the subject blood sample as that of the minor son of the applicant, while in reality it was the blood sample of co-accused .... The applicant, being the father of the said minor son, was part of the conspiracy under Section 120-B of the IPC to bring about such deception by affixing a label to show the blood sample to be that of the minor son, while it was the blood sample of co-accused ...."
The bench said, "It is the said label affixed on the blood sample that was the basis of deception, read with the documents created in conspiracy with co-accused Dr (Shrihari) Halnor. Hence, the contention raised on behalf of the applicant that the blood sample is not a ‘document' pales into insignificance."
The bench said, "It is due to this deception practised on the assistant chemical analyzer that he had no knowledge of the nature of alteration, resulting in the said alcohol examination certificate (to the effect that there was no alcohol trace) being signed, sealed and executed."
The bench held, "Viewed from this angle, the contention raised on behalf of the respondent State that the applicant was very much part of the conspiracy in committing the offence under Section 464 (making a false document) of the IPC, holds good. There is a strong prima facie case made out against the applicant for offence committed under Section 467 (forgery of valuable security) of the IPC, read with Section 464 thereof. The said document clearly answers the definition of ‘valuable security' under Section 30 of the IPC, as it certainly created a right in the accused minor son of the applicant of portraying innocence," the bench held.
Assistant commissioner of police (crime) Ganesh Ingale, investigating the case, said, "Our teams are working on tracing the whereabouts of the wanted accused and we hope to arrest him soon."
Lawyer Abid Mulani, presenting the labour contractor, told TOI, "Our client will file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the dismissal of the anticipatory bail plea."