The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of the father of the second minor in the Pune Porsche accident, who was sitting next to the main accused (Child in conflict with law), who was driving the car.

On May 19, a minor rammed his Porsche into two persons on a bike, killing them. The minor driver was arrested and sent to juvenile board. His friend, who was riding with him, was also inebriated. 

Justice Manish Pitale rejected the plea by Arunkumar Singh noting that he bribed the doctors at Pune’s Sasoon Hospital after the accident to get his son's blood samples changed with another co-accused, only to ensure that the medical reports do not indicate presence of any alcohol in his son's blood.

“A perusal of the material that has come on record during the course of investigation prima facie indicates that blood sample of the minor son of the applicant (Singh) was replaced with the blood sample of co-accused Ashish Mittal. This was at the behest of the applicant himself, in order to create a document that would ensure that the minor son of the applicant goes scot free,” the judge said in a detailed order. 

The parents of the child in conflict with law, who are also a co-accused, also similarly swapped their son’s blood sample with that of his mother to avoid detection of alcohol in blood. 

“The applicant, being the father of the said minor son, was part of the conspiracy under Section 120-B of the IPC to bring about such deception by affixing of label to show the blood sample to be that of the minor son while it was the blood sample of co-accused Ashish Mittal. It is the said label affixed on the blood sample that was the basis of deception, read with the documents created in conspiracy with co-accused Dr. Halnor,” the judge added. 

The judge agreed with the prosecution argument that Singh remaining absconding has “created an impediment for the investigating authority to fully and effectively investigate into the matter”.