Pune Porsche crash: Accused’s parents seek bail in blood sample swapping case

The parents of the Pune Porsche crash hit-and-run case accused minor have moved the Bombay High Court, alleging their detention in connection with the alleged blood sample swapping incident as ‘illegal’.
The petition, filed by Advocates Siddharth Agarwal and Narayan Rokade, pleaded that the court declare their arrest as illegal and in gross violation of the fundamental rights in relation to the FIR registered at Yerwada Police Station, Pune on May 19, 2024. The plea also seeks that as an interim measure, the court issue an order granting bail to them, pending the final hearing of the writ petition.
On June 1, 2024, the petitioners were arrested in the case and on July 28, the investigation was completed, and a chargesheet was filed against the couple and others. The plea alleged that after filing of the chargesheet, the Sessions Judge of the Pune court has not as yet taken cognisance of the offence and thus the petitioners are illegally detained without remand order.
The petitioners further claimed that when they were arrested, the grounds were not informed in writing or verbally to them. The petitioners claimed that a false and bogus FIR was lodged against them.
“It ought to be held that, when the power is given to do a certain thing in a certain way, the thing must be done in that way or not at all. It ought to be held that what is illegal cannot be commended with recognition and acceptance,” the plea states.
Two IT engineers, Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both aged 24 and hailing from Madhya Pradesh, were killed after the speeding Porsche driven by a 17-year-old boy allegedly in an inebriated state, hit their motorcycle around 2.30 am on May 19 in Pune.
A FIR was lodged against the minor car driver at the Yerwada police station. The police investigation revealed that when the minor accused was taken to the government-run Sassoon Hospital after the accident for a medical examination, his blood sample was allegedly replaced with his mother’s.
The police then arrested seven people – the minor’s parents apart from Dr Ajay Aniruddha Taware, former head of the Forensic Medicine Department of Sassoon Hospital, Dr Shrihari Bhimrao Halnor, the casualty medical officer at the time, amongst others on charges of tampering with evidence, forgery, criminal conspiracy and corruption.
After the incident, the minor’s family members were slapped with many charges. While the parents have managed to get bail in other cases, the blood swapping case is the only one in which they are yet to get bail.
A bench led by Justice Bharati Dangre is expected to hear the petition next on November 25.