Pune Porsche accident: Supreme Court denies anticipatory bail to father of minor co-passenger

The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied anticipatory bail to Arunkumar Singh, whose minor son was a passenger in the Porsche car that hit and killed two motorcycle commuters in Pune's Kalyani Nagar earlier this year. [Arunkumar Devnath Singh v. State of Maharashtra].

Singh faces allegations of conspiring to alter his son's blood samples to hide the presence of alcohol following the incident.

A Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah refused to interfere with a Bombay High Court order rejecting his pre-arrest bail.

Senior Advocates Vibha Datta Makhija and Sidharth Luthra appeared for Singh.

The tragic event occurred on May 19, 2024, when a Porsche, allegedly driven by a minor, collided with a motorcycle, resulting in the deaths of two individuals.

In the aftermath, Singh and other co-accused reportedly engaged in swapping blood samples to obscure any evidence of alcohol consumption, aiming to mislead investigators.

On October 23, Bombay High Court had observed that there was prima facie evidence suggesting that Singh bribed doctors at Sassoon Hospital to swap his son’s blood sample with that of the co-accused.

“The applicant, being the father of the said minor son, was part of the conspiracy under Section 120-B of the IPC to bring about such deception by affixing of label to show the blood sample to be that of the minor son while it was the blood sample of co-accused Ashish Mittal. It is the said label affixed on the blood sample that was the basis of deception, read with the documents created in conspiracy with co-accused Dr. Halnor. Hence, the contention raised on behalf of the applicant that blood sample is not a 'document' pales into insignificance,” the Court held.

Hence, the Court concluded that the ingredients of the offences were prima facie made out. It also noted the potential obstruction to the investigation if Singh absconds.