On Thursday, the Maharashtra Government officially terminated the appointments of two members of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in connection with their involvement in granting bail to a juvenile accused in the Pune Porsche crash case.

An inquiry conducted by a panel from the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department resulted in a recommendation for disciplinary action against members L.N. Danwade and Kavita Thorat, citing allegations of “procedural lapses, misconduct, and non-compliance with established norms”. Commissioner Prashant Narnavare stated, “I submitted the findings of the probe panel to the state government, advocating for the termination of the appointments of the two members”.

The report recommending termination was submitted to the state government in July. Following the review of the findings, the state government acted on Tuesday to terminate the appointments of Danwade and Thorat, having determined that they misused their powers under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act. A notification issued by the government on October 8 indicated that Danwade and Thorat were found culpable of “misusing their powers” as delineated under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and that the government deemed it expedient to terminate their appointments.

The matter arose from an incident on May 19, wherein two IT professionals lost their lives in the Kalyani Nagar area of Pune after their motorcycle was struck by a Porsche, allegedly driven by a 17-year-old male under the influence of alcohol. The case garnered significant public outcry following the JJB’s decision to grant bail to the juvenile with the conditions described as excessively lenient, including the requirement to compose a 300-word essay on road safety.  In response to the ensuing controversy, the WDC Department established a committee to investigate the conduct of the JJB members regarding the bail granted to the juvenile accused. The committee’s report elucidated serious procedural lapses and misconduct, which warranted the issuance of a show-cause notice to the members. However, the responses received were found to be unsatisfactory, prompting the WCD to recommend disciplinary action to the state government.

Source PTI

 

 

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