The Bombay High Court on Tuesday denied bail to businessman Vishal Agarwal and seven other accused in the Pune Porsche crash case in which two software engineers were killed after being rammed by a Porsche car driven by Agarwal's son [Aditya Avinash Sood v. State of Maharashtra & connected matters]
Justice Shyam C Chandak observed that the alleged conspiracy by Agarwal and others to tamper with blood samples to shield his minor son, eroded justice for two victims who lost their lives in the accident
The Court stressed that this was not a fit case to grant bail as the apprehension of the prosecution that the accused would tamper with the prosecution witnesses was well-founded.
“Some of the applicants are financially well placed. If bail is granted, even subject to stringent conditions, there is every possibility of their tampering with the prosecution evidence using their money power and superior dominance,” the Court observed in its order.
The incident took place at around 2:30 AM on May 19, 2024, when a Porsche car, allegedly driven by the minor in an inebriated state, rammed into a motorcycle in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area.
Two software engineers - Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both aged 24 and hailing from Madhya Pradesh - were killed in the crash.
According to the prosecution, Vishal Agarwal, father of the CCL, partnered with his wife Shivani Agarwal and allegedly hatched the conspiracy to secure ‘nil alcohol’ reports and arrange swapping of the blood samples of the child in conflict with law (CCL) and his three friends ‘A’, ‘N’ and ‘S’.
The parents allegedly paid ₹3 lakh as illegal gratification to Sassoon Hospital’s casualty medical officer Dr Shrihari Halnor through co-accused Ashpak Basha Makandar and Amar Santosh Gaikwad, who were middlemen.
Of this, ₹50,000 was passed on to hospital staffer and co-accused Atul Ghatkambale for facilitating the act.
Co-accused Dr Halnor is alleged to have been responsible for clinically examining the CCL and his friends and taking their blood samples.
He allegedly acted in concert with co-accused Dr Ajay Taware, then head of the hospital’s forensic medicine department, who used his position to get the tampering carried out through Halnor.
The Court opined granting bail to the accused would thwart the course of justice in this case.
It noted that there was unusual delay in the medical examination of CCL and his three friends.
The Court also noted that accused Arunkumar Singh allegedly paid ₹2 lakh to co-accused businessman Ashish Mittal for providing his blood sample to be swapped with the former’s minor son ‘N’.
Makandar and Gaikwad, the middlemen, allegedly assisted in ensuring that the manipulated samples and forged paperwork entered the official records.
The Court highlighted the financial standing and influence of the accused and noted that key witnesses in the case including private drivers, watchmen, domestic staff and hospital employees were dependent on some of the accused.
In this backdrop, Justice Chandak held that releasing the accused on bail, even with stringent conditions, carried a real risk of witness intimidation and further tampering with prosecution evidence.
On merits, the accused argued that evidence of bribery was very doubtful and since investigation was over, further detention in jail would not serve any purpose.
However, the Court noted that instead of supporting the police for proper investigation and collection of evidence, the accused became ready to tamper with evidence for money.
It further observed that the trial court rejected bail till evidence of the most material witness is recorded in trial.
After noting that the accused have spent 18 months in jail, Justice Chandak directed the trial court to frame charges as early as possible.
Senior Advocates Ashok Mundargi, Shirish Gupte, Aabad Ponda with advocates Vijay Upadhyay, Dhvani Shah, Niranjan Mundargi, Abid Mulani, Ashish P Agarkar, Prashant Patil, Raj Mulani, Harshada Parbhane, Adesh Agarkar, Mandar Shinde, Shraddha Kulkarni, Swapnil Ambure, Harshada Parbhane, Nida Khan, Gagandeep Singh, Aniket Nikam, Ranjit Ade, Rajendra Nemane, Gagandeep Singh, Anant Charkhe, Nilesh Rathod, Keral Mehta, Yash Naik and Vaibhav Gaikwad appeared for the accused.
Special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray with advocates Shubham Joshi, Sanjay Kokane, Tanveer Khan and Supriya Kak appeared for the State.
Advocates Ankit Patil, Yash Shrivas and Iraa Dube Patil briefed by Jay and Co. appeared for the intervenor, the father of one of the victims.
[Read Order]