The prosecution on Thursday opposed the bail pleas of six accused in the May 19 Pune Porsche car crash case and asserted they played with the judiciary by tampering with evidence. Special public prosecutor (SSP) Shishir Hiray opposed the bail applications of the parents of the juvenile involved in the Kalyaninagar car accident, Sassoon General Hospital’s the then head of forensic sciences department Dr Ajay Taware, its then chief medical officer Dr Shrihari Halnor as well as middlemen Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad. The bail applications of the six are currently being heard before the fast track court of Additional Sessions Judge UM Mudholkar.
In the early hours of May 19, two IT professionals were killed after their motorcycle was hit by a Porsche car allegedly driven by the minor. The car’s speed was recorded at 110 km per hour after the airbags in the car opened once it hit the two-wheeler, indicating the vehicle was likely being driven at an even higher speed before the impact, Hiray told the court. Pune Porsche crash: Boy's parents accused of swapping blood samples, says police chargesheet Citing a Supreme Court judgement that cancelled the bail given to former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi in a murder case, Hiray said the accused would tamper with evidence the way they tried by replacing blood samples to nullify alcohol tests.
“After the offence was registered against the minor, the accused allegedly took the entire system in their hand and tampered with key evidence crucial in the judicial proceedings. Playing or tampering with the evidence is nothing but playing with the judicial system. This exactly happened in the Amarmani Tripathi vs CBI case,” said Hiray.
Pointing out the conduct of the six accused appearing in the chargesheet, the SPP said that Dr Halnor had prepared the medico legal certificate (MLC) late in the afternoon despite taking the bloods samples early in the morning. Asserting that all the accused acted in connivance with the common objective of sabotaging the evidence, Hiray said, “Tampering with the evidence hampers the right of the victims to seek justice. The rights of victim is a valuable thing.
It is not just victims, but society as a whole is seeking justice.” He refuted the defence’s argument that IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) needs to be segregated. “It cannot be segregated at this stage in the case.
Section 304 is just an iceberg. What is lying beneath is much more important,” he said. Read Here: The Pune between the Porsche and Pulsar Objecting to the defence’s argument of a media trial leading to the arrests, he said investigation is being done with utmost professionalism.
If given bail, the accused will try to tamper with the evidence, pressure the witnesses, Hiray, who was assisted by his colleague Sarthi Panare, told the court. Hiray will continue his argument on Friday. The Pune police recently filed a chargesheet of 900 pages in the case against seven accused, comprising the six who moved the bail pleas and Sassoon hospital staffer Atul Ghatkamble.
The case against the main accused, a minor, is currently going on before the Juvenile Justice Board. Police investigation into the Kalyaninagar accident case had revealed that the minor had consumed alcohol at two different locations before driving the luxury car that killed two persons on bike early morning..
