Pune car crash: Panel set up to probe conduct of Juvenile Justice Board members

The Maharashtra government has set up a committee to probe the conduct of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) members and check if norms were followed while issuing orders in the Pune car crash case, an official said on Wednesday.

The five-member committee was formed last week by the state woman and child development department (WCD), he said.

It is headed by a deputy commissioner-rank officer from the department and is expected to submit its report by next week, the official said.

Two IT professionals in their 20s were killed after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche, allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy, in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar area of Pune. According to police, the teenager was drunk at the time.

The JJB granted bail to the teenager hours after the incident. It also asked him to write a 300-word essay on road accidents, an order that drew an onslaught of criticism.

WCD commissioner Prashant Narnavare said the JJB comprises a member from the judiciary and two persons appointed by the state government.

‘We have formed a committee to probe the overall conduct of the JJB members appointed by the state government, to check whether norms were followed while issuing orders in the car accident case,” he said.

”I have powers under the Juvenile Justice Act to probe the overall conduct of the members who have been appointed by the state government. We have set up a committee to assess the overall conduct of the JJB members in connection with the order that granted bail to the juvenile after the accident,” said Narnavare.

The committee was formed immediately after the (bail) order was issued, he added.

Another three-member committee is also conducting an inquiry into the alleged manipulation of the blood samples of the juvenile driver.

On Monday, police claimed the juvenile’s blood samples were discarded and replaced with another person’s samples which showed no traces of alcohol.