Mercedes Hit-and-Run Case: Juvenile Accused Denied Bail

The Juvenile Justice Board observed that he was a repeat offender and blamed his parents for allowing him to drive.

Sidharth Sharma, the 32-year-old marketing consultant who died in a hit-and-run case. (Photo Courtesy: Screengrab from CCTV footage)

The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), on Tuesday, denied bail to a minor boy, who had allegedly run over a 32-year-old IT consultant with his father’s Mercedes on 4 April in the Civil Lines area of New Delhi.

The board observed that he was a repeat offender, who had been fined four times on earlier occasions for his rash driving, and blamed his parents for allowing him to drive at such an age.

Sources privy to the proceedings said the board pulled up the parents of the boy, who has just turned 18, saying they had promoted his habit of driving even when he was minor.

The JJB observed that repeated traffic rule violation challans failed to have any “reformative effect” upon the juvenile and it seemed his parents did not care.

The juvenile driver was arrested on 5 April, a day after the incident.

A case under IPC sections 304 A (causing death by rash or negligent act), 279 (driving on a public way so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life) and 337 (causing hurt by an act which endangers human life) was lodged.

The police booked the juvenile for the alleged offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and he was sent to a reform home.

The youth had sought bail on the ground that it was his right and claimed that the victim was also at fault as he was crossing the road in a wrong manner. The Delhi Police, however, opposed his plea saying he was involved in such incidents previously as well.

(With inputs from PTI.)