The juvenile in the Mercedes hit-and-run case in Delhi on April 4, 2016 will be tried as an adult accused by a sessions court, the Juvenile Justice Board held on Saturday. Allowing the Delhi Police to forward his case to a regular court, the Board said that he would be tried as an adult accused in the case.
Reacting to the order, Special Public Prosecutor in the case, Atul Srivasrava, said: “To my knowledge, it is the fist time in the country that a Juvenile Justice Board has transferred a case of a minor in conflict with law to a regular court.
A business consultant in his thirties was killed in the accident on April 4, 2016.
Seeking transfer of the court to a regular court, Mr. Srivastava had argued that the juvenile had earlier committed four traffic violations for which he was challaned and later pleaded guilty before the court. When the Presiding Officer of the Board asked him why the police did not check his age at that time, the prosecutor said that the juvenile might have bluffed the police as well the court.
The juvenile has been charged under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code. He is on bail.
The Delhi Police had apprehended the offender first on April 5, 2016, a day after the incident. However, he was freed on bail as he was at that time booked under the softer Section 304A (causing death by rash or negligent act) of the IPC.
After a public outrage over the minor walking free and the allegation by the victim's family that the investigating agency was soft on him, the police converted the case into culpable homicide not amounting to murder (304) of IPC and arrested him again.
