Detention illegal; aunt given minor's custody

HC: Police, juvenile board swayed by public outcry

- Urvi Mahajani

Terming as 'illegal' the continuation of the custody of the juvenile accused in the Porsche deaths last month, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed his release from the observation home in Pune where he was remanded. It noted that the entire situation was handled in a kneejerk manner, following a public outcry for the trial of the juvenile as an adult.

"It is the court's bounden duty to prioritise justice above everything else, and that it is not swayed away by the uproar created because of the ghastly mishap, for which allegedly the minor is personally responsible and which has resulted in loss of two innocent lives," the court noted.

"Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum, a Latin phrase which connotes, Let justice be done though the heavens fall, clearly convey a principle in law, that justice must be realised regardless of consequences and just decisions may be made at whatever cost it comes," a bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande said.

It added: "We have all sympathies for the victim and their families but as a Court of Law, we are bound to implement the law as it stands."

The HC disposed of the habeas corpus (produce person in court) petition filed by the juvenile's paternal aunt. The 17-year-old was allegedly drunk when the luxury car he was driving, rammed into a two-wheeler, killing two persons.