The Maharashtra government opposed the maintainability of a habeas corpus petition filed last month by the aunt of a minor involved in a Porsche accident case on 19th May. The minor was initially granted bail but was placed back into the observation home on 22nd May amid escalating pressure. The petition argues for the minor's release from 'grossly illegal and arbitrary detention and confinement', demanded by his aunt, Pooja Jain.
Presented before the Bombay High Court, advocate Abad Ponda on behalf of Jain, argued that the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, should not permit the minor's detention in a police station or observation home. Further, Ponda emphasized the need to shield the minor in every way possible, to ensure no confrontation with the law leads him to become a serious offender. 'How can he be snatched from his grandfather's custody and placed in an observation home?' he questioned, referencing the reversal of a prior court order, deeming it a legal violation that the court should seriously consider.
The petition claims Pune police's application on 22nd May to reverse the earlier bail order was legally unacceptable, influenced by media reports. It also notes that not only the minor and his family have been targeted, but a judicial officer and the judiciary have been mocked in an exceedingly derogatory manner, with media harassment cited. The High Court's intervention is 'necessary to safeguard the spirit of justice,' the petition adds.
However, Chief Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegavkar and state representative lawyer Ayush Kedia have contested both the merits and maintainability of the petition as a habeas corpus plea. The family has reportedly suffered immensly from public hate. The prayer urges the prosecution agency and court not to yield to public uproar. The bench will conduct an extensive hearing of the petition next week.
