Mercedes hit-and-run case: Minor denied bail for being repeat offender

A juvenile justice board on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of a minor accused in a hit-and-run case that led to the death of a 33-year-old business consultant. According to informed sources, the juvenile justice board rejected the bail application of the minor, observing that he was a repeat offender. He had been earlier challaned in another case of rash driving. According to a report in NDTV, the board said, after stating that the teen had been driving for two years, “Parents gave him a car, which endangered our lives. It’s bad parenting.” His father was granted bail by a court on 10 April, two days after he was arrested. [caption id=“attachment_2737684” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Police had apprehended the minor offender on 5 April, a day after he killed Sidhharth Sharma by hitting him with his Mercedes car the previous night when the victim was crossing a road to buy eatables. The minor was then freed on bail as he was only booked under section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. After an uproar and allegations that police officers were going soft on the accused, the police took a U-turn. The boy’s father was also arrested under section 304 (abetting the crime of culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC for letting his minor son to drive even after knowing that he had caused an accident earlier. Police had earlier told the court that CCTV footage showed that the minor offender was driving his car at great speed in a residential area. According to a report in The Indian Express, the juvenile allegedly rammed the same car he killed Sidhharth Sharma with into a fruit vendor, also hitting another car in the process. This incident happened on 16 February 2015 in Delhi’s Maurice Nagar area and the Delhi police had not lodged a complaint against him then, they merely let the juvenile off with a warning. The NDTV report further stated that the juvenile had been fined twice for speeding and once for parking in a wrong spot in the last year alone. The report added that if the teen is found guilty, he would be sent to a juvenile home for two years. With inputs from IANS