Bombay HC Denies Interim Bail Extension to Minor in Fatal Vidyavihar Crash
The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to extend the interim protection granted to a 17-year-old accused in the fatal Vidyavihar road crash, clearing the way for his return to a children's home.
The teenager had been granted a temporary stay on a Sessions Court order cancelling his bail so he could appear for his Class 12 examinations held between August 6 and August 8. On August 5, Justice Shivkumar Dige had granted the brief reprieve. With the High Court declining to extend that protection, the Sessions Court's directive to place him in a child reformative centre comes back into effect.
The Sessions Court had passed an order on July 31 overturning a March 6 decision by the Juvenile Justice Board that granted bail to the minor. The court directed the Suburban Juvenile Justice Board in Dongri to secure the teenager's presence and issue orders sending him to a reform home.
The cancellation of bail followed a legal challenge by Minal Patel, whose husband, Dhrumil Patel, died from injuries sustained in the collision. The incident took place on February 5 in Vidyavihar, when an SUV allegedly driven by the 17-year-old struck a scooter carrying the couple. Dhrumil Patel died ten days later, on February 15. Police initially arrested the juvenile's father, Valji Raja Bhushan, on February 10.
Minal Patel argued through her advocates that the Juvenile Justice Board had overlooked material against the juvenile, including alleged social media videos showing him performing dangerous driving stunts, which were subsequently deleted.
In written submissions submitted to the High Court, Patel stated that the teenager went missing immediately after the Sessions Court cancelled his bail on July 31. According to a police compliance report cited before the court, officers searched for him at his Chembur residence, his father's shop, and a designated safe house in Navi Mumbai, but could not trace him or his father.
When police questioned the teenager's mother on August 3, she refused to disclose his location. She was found residing at the Chembur house rather than the Navi Mumbai safe house, violating a bail condition prohibiting the juvenile from staying in Ghatkopar or Chembur. The victim's family also submitted allegations that the teenager's father and a relative offered ₹40 lakh to withdraw the police complaint, a matter the family reported to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone VI.
