Pune car accident case: Committee set to probe JJ board members

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], May 29 (ANI): The Maharashtra state’s Woman and Child Development Department has established a five-person committee to investigate whether the Juvenile Justice Board (JJ Board) members, appointed by the state, followed correct legal procedures when granting bail to the teenager involved in the May 19 Pune car accident. The incident resulted in the deaths of two motorcycle-borne people.

Prashant Narnawre, Commissioner of the Women and Child Development Department in Pune, spoke about the composition and responsibilities of the JJ Board.

“JJ Board consists of 3 members (1 from the judiciary, and the rest 2 get appointed from the government). We are the appointing authority of the 2 members from the state government at the JJ Board. As per the JJ Act, if we have doubts about the conduct of any of these 2 appointed state government members, we can constitute a committee and take the required action,” Prashant Narnawre said.

Narnawre emphasised, “Under this provision, I have appointed a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner, Women and Child Development Dept., and this committee will examine the conduct of our members at the JJ Board appointed by us as to what their role is in the entire case. We will examine whether the legal provisions were followed, and we will check if such things were previously done or not. When it was brought to our attention that something suspicious might have happened in this case, we immediately issued an order for investigation.”

He further stated, “The committee has been appointed and has started its work. A report is expected next week, and once the report is submitted, I will also make a remark on this and submit it to the Maharashtra government for further action.”

LN Dhanawade, the government-appointed JJB member, faced criticism for granting bail to the minor accused. Conditions for bail included writing an essay on the accident, collaborating with traffic police in Yerwada for 15 days, seeking treatment for alcohol cessation, and undergoing psychiatric counselling.

Earlier, the Crime Branch Unit of Pune Police which is probing the high-profile case, continued its interrogation of two doctors who were arrested in the case. Both the doctors were remanded to police custody by the district court until May 30.

Pune police arrested the doctors, Dr Ajay Taware, HOD of the forensic medicine department, and Chief Medical Officer Dr Srihari Halnor, along with another staff member, Atul Ghatkamble. The trio was arrested for manipulating blood samples taken from the minor accused after the incident at Sassoon Hospital.

When asked about the multiple media reports published that there was a call exchange between Dr. Ajay Taware and MLA Tingre after the incident in the early hours of May 20, the senior official of Pune police confirmed that as of now there is no connection established between MLA Tingre and Dr. Taware.

“We have also not found any call records till now between these two in the investigation,” the police official told ANI on Tuesday.

“Pune police is currently trying to find out the details with whom the blood samples were swapped and are also trying to establish the financial trail in the case as to how much money Dr. Tawre received or promised by the minor’s father,” they added.

Meanwhile, the Pune District Court on Tuesday sent the father and grandfather of the minor accused involved in the same case to police custody until May 31.