Supreme Court grants bail to another accused in Pune Porsche crash case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Ashpak Makandar, who is among those accused of aiding the tampering of blood samples of the prime accused (driver) in the Pune Porsche crash of 2024, which claimed the lives of two young software engineers..A Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan granted bail after noting that co-accused persons who are facing similar allegations in the same case have already been given such relief."How long has he been inside?" the Court asked, when the matter was heard today."20 months, Your Lordships," replied Senior Advocate Siddharth Agarwal, on behalf of Makandar."We will grant bail on the ground of parity. Leave granted," the Court said..It proceeded to order,"Bail granted in terms of the order passed in SLP (Crl.) No. 1270 of 2026 in the case of Amar Gaikwad (a co-accused, also accused of acting as a middleman to help with the tampering of blood samples).".The matter concerns an accident that occurred at around 2:30 AM on May 19, 2024, when a Porsche car, allegedly driven by a juvenile in an inebriated state, rammed into a motorcycle in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area. The crash killed 24-year-old software engineers Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both from Madhya Pradesh.According to the prosecution, the father of the accused juvenile - businessman Vishal Agarwal - along with his wife and other associates, conspired with hospital doctors to manipulate the blood test reports of the juvenile and his friends, ensuring they showed no traces of alcohol. It is alleged that ₹3 lakh was paid to Sassoon Hospital staff through middlemen, with senior medical officers accused of orchestrating the tampering.Among those accused of acting as middlemen in this arrangement to switch blood samples was Makandar.Another alleged middleman, Amar Santosh Gaikwad, was recently granted bail, as was Ashish Mittal, a friend of Vishal Agarwal and Aditya Sood, whose son was in the back seat of the Porsche car. These three accused were granted bail by an order passed earlier this month. Advocates Shakti Pandey and Abid Mulani also represented Makandar before the Supreme Court. .[Live Coverage].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.