2024 Pune car crash

A representative picture of Porsche Taycan, the car model driven by Vedant at the time

On 19 May 2024, Vedant Agarwal aged 17 years and 8 months (notably, barely still a legal minor) killed two motorbike riders in an automobile collision. The deceased, Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, were both IT professionals and residents of Madhya Pradesh. Media reports emphasised that Agarwal was driving a Porsche Taycan, considered a luxury vehicle, and that he had purchased and consumed alcohol before the incident.

Agarwal's father brought politician Sunil Tingre to the police station. Thereafter, the police gave Agarwal preferential treatment, including delaying the test of his blood alcohol content. The Juvenile Justice Board gave the accused minor bail within hours of the death of 2 people, creating a nation-wide controversy regarding the derailment of justice.

The 50-year-old father, currently in custody, was also taken for questioning regarding the blood sample swap. The juvenile's 77-year-old grandfather is accused of abducting the driver who was present at the time of the accident and forcing him to take the blame. He is also in judicial custody.

The juvenile, who is currently in an observation home until June 5, was questioned about his activities before the accident and the events at Sassoon Hospital but gave vague answers. The police have taken a DNA sample from the mother to confirm the blood sample swap. Investigation revealed that the minor’s blood sample was swapped with his mother’s, implicating both parents and the hospital staff in the conspiracy.

Incident

At 10:30 PM on 18 May 2024, Vedant Agarwal and a few of his friends entered Cosie Restaurant and Bar in Koregaon Park to celebrate him scoring 60 percentage in his 12th Board Examination. The restaurant served the group of minors alcohol till midnight, but around the midnight they refused to serve the minors anymore and asked them to leave. The 17-year-old boy paid Rs 48,000 ($577.90) for the drinks for the group using his father's credit card and then left.

The group then went to Blak Club in Marriott Suites at 12:25 AM on the 19th of May 2024. The group of minors ordered more alcohol, which was served to them, after which they left at 1:22 AM after paying the bill of Rs 20,000 ($240).

After spending some time in the area, the Vedant Agarwal began driving towards his house in a Porsche Taycan Turbo S owned by his father. Around 2:30 AM at Kalyani Nagar junction, due to intoxication he lost control of the car, which was speeding at around 200 kilometers per hour and crashed into a motorcycle, killing two individuals named Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta. Ashwini, who was the pillion rider, died on the spot, Aneesh later succumbed to his injuries in a hospital.

The mob present took Vedant Agarwal out of the car and later handed him to the police.

Aftermath

Less than an hour after the incident, at 3:20 AM on 19 May 2024, politician Sunil Tingre went to the police station on request from the father of the accused. Tingre is a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party. It is alleged that the police then provided preferential treatment to the minor as the charges against the teen were under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, which deals with drunk driving offences. Moreover, the blood alcohol test of the minor was delayed by more than 8 hours - enough time for alcohol to be flushed out of the body. The minor was taken to Sassoon hospital around 9 am and the sample was collected around 11 am. The minor was allegedly served pizzas and burgers while under the custody. Doctors and police examined a blood sample which came the Agarwal's mother.

Hours later, the Juvenile Justice Board granted the minor bail on the conditions that the minor has to work with Yerwada Police for 15 days, write 300-words essay on road accidents, undergo treatment for his drinking habit and take counselling session - for an incident that claimed lives of 2 people.

The decision of the court to award the accused bail, with its order to write a 300-word essay in an incident with two casualties, led to nationwide controversy. Allegations had been made over leniency by the Juvenile Justice Board. Following the outcry of the preferential treatment and miscarriage of justice, MLA Sunil Tingre denied the allegation that he pressurized the police and maintained that he visited the police station in the middle of the night as a responsible representative of the public.

On 20 May 2024, after the outcry, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister & Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis travelled to Pune and met with the Pune Police chief. He then addressed a press conference, expressing “shock and surprise” over the order passed by the Juvenile Justice Board. Fadnavis said the police later went to a higher court, which directed the police to approach the Juvenile Justice Board with a review petition. Police then asked to try the minor as an adult in its review petition.

The same day, a second FIR was registered based on two sections of the Juvenile Justice Act, Sections 75 and 77. This FIR was against the minor’s father— retail builder Vishal Agrawal—and the owners and employees of the two bars that served the group of teenager's alcohol. In its FIR, the Pune Police contended that Vishal Agrawal not only endangered his son’s life by giving him the car to drive despite knowing well that his child did not have a driving license but also held responsible for allowing his son to party, knowing well that he drinks alcohol. The Pune Police later on the same day, traced, chased, and arrested the absconding Vishal Agrawal from Aurangabad. Angry protesters later attempted to throw ink at him when he was being taken to a local court.

Pune district collector Suhas Diwase even ordered the two pubs to be sealed after the state excise department submitted a report highlighting multiple lacunae in their functioning. In a crackdown on illegal activities by pubs, two other pubs which had been constructed illegally were demolished.

On 22 May, the juvenile court cancelled the bail which had been granted and order the accused to be remanded till 5 June 2024 and was lodged at the Nehru Udyog Kendra Observation Home.

On 24 May 2024, against the growing protest for justice, Police Commissioner of Pune, Amitsh Kumar that they are making a watertight case and that the allegation of preferential treatment is also being investigated by an ACP Rank officer. The Commissioner also stated that the minor was in his full senses and further charges of Indian Penal Code will be pressed against him. A case was registered against the minor boy under the Indian Penal Code Sections - 304A (causing death by negligence), 304 (culpable homicide), 337 (negligent driving endangering safety of others), 338 (rash or negligent act that endangers personal safety) and 427 (mischief causing loss or damage punishable with imprisonment, which may extend to two years or with fine, or both), and other sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.

On the same day, two police officers were suspended for a breach of protocol with regards to the case.

The accused claimed that the driver employed by the family was driving the car when the accident took place. On 25 May, the grandfather of the accused was arrested for wrongful confinement of the driver, in order to coerce him to take the blame for the accident. The police also alleged that the accused's father tampered with evidence.

On 27 May, two senior doctors from the Sassoon Hospital were arrested for replacing blood samples taken from the accused.

Reactions

The decision of the court to award the accused bail, with its order to write a 300-word essay led to widespread controversy.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, issued statements of condemnation expressing shock and surprise over the leniency of the Juvenile Justice Board in an incident which took two lives.

Leaders such as Sanjay Raut from the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Supriya Sule from the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar also raised questions over whether the Pune Police’s alleged leniency with the teenager was the result of political pressure.

Kasba MLA Ravindra Dhangekar alleged that the Pune Police Commissioner "doesn't think anyone is guilty because he is living on builders' money".

Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi also raised the issue targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP dispensation stating “If someone is killed by a bus driver, truck driver, Ola, Uber, or auto-driver by mistake, they get a prison term of 10 years, and their keys are thrown away. But if a rich kid drives a Porsche under the influence of alcohol and kills two persons, he is asked to write an essay. Why aren’t truck drivers, bus drivers, or Uber, auto drivers asked to write essays? The question is about justice. It should be the same for everyone, for the rich and the poor,”

On 26 May 2024, Congress Youth Wing of Pune organised an essay writing competition on the spot of the car crash as a mark of protest.