The Juvenile Justice Board on Friday reserved its order on a Delhi Police plea to forward the case of the juvenile in the Mercedes hit-and-run case to a regular court for his trial as an adult.
A 33-year-old business consultant was killed in the accident on April 4.
The Board reserved the order for Saturday after hearing argument by the Special Public Prosecutor, Atul Srivastava, that the offence committed by the juvenile came under the definition of heinous crime. Therefore, the juvenile should be tried as an adult.
When Mr. Srivastava said the juvenile had committed four traffic violations for which he later pleaded guilty before the court, the Presiding Officer of the Board asked him why the police did not check his age then. The prosecutor said the juvenile might have lied to the police as well as the court.
The police sought trial of the juvenile as an adult while filing charge sheet against him last month. He has been charged under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Delhi Police had apprehended the minor offender first on April 5, a day after the accident. However, he was freed on bail as he had been booked under the softer Section 304A (causing death by rash or negligent act) of the IPC.
After 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.
The Board granted him bail on April 26.
