The Porsche car found without number plate, in Pune.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Keeping up the pressure on the ruling Mahayuti government to ensure justice in the Pune Porsche accident case, the Congress’s youth wing on Sunday organised an essay writing competition near the accident spot where a 17-year-old, under the influence of alcohol, killed two persons in Kalyani Nagar area while driving an unregistered Porsche.
More than 100 people, mostly youngsters, participated in the essay competition which had topics like ‘If my father was a builder’, ‘Ill effects of alcohol’, ‘Is this administration sleeping?’ among others to write on.
The party also announced three cash prizes — ₹11,000, ₹7000 and ₹5000 — for the three best essays.
A Youth Congress leader added that the entries would be sent to the Home Minister and the Pune Commissioner of Police.
The essay competition was a riposte to the initial decision of the Juvenile Justice Board to grant bail to the minor less than 15 hours after the accident on May 19. The JJB, in its bail order, had asked the teenager to write a 300-word essay on road accidents, provoking widespread outrage among citizens on the Board’s extreme leniency.
This led the Board to revoke the boy’s bail and send him to an Observation Home till June 5.
Pune Congress leader Sangeeta Tiwari said the JJB’s initial decision had been “an extreme mockery of justice”.
“Tomorrow, anyone can ram his car and kill people and be let off by being asked to write an essay of 300 or 600 words merely because of his family’s connections. What a laughable decision on part of the JJB and an extreme mockery of justice. There is intense anger among the youth. Hence, our party’s youth wing has organised this competition as we want to prick the ears of this government,” she said.
Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar of the Kasba Assembly constituency, who had been spearheading the party’s protests against ‘pub culture’ in the city, urged authorities to take stringent action against pubs and restaurants violating norms by serving alcohol to minors and operating well beyond their closing hours.
The police have arrested the teenager’s father, realtor Vishal Agarwal, and his grandfather, Surendra Agarwal, in connection with the accident. The father was booked under the Juvenile Justice Act for “exposing a child to danger” by handing over the car to him despite knowing that he had no driving license.
The teen’s grandfather was arrested for the ‘illegal confinement’ of the driver and forcing the latter to take the rap for his grandson’s deed.