The Kerala High Court has sought the Kerala government’s response to a petition seeking cancellation of bail granted to a minor accused of allegedly driving a Mercedes-Benz car that fatally hit a scooter rider in Kochi’s Cheranalloor area.
Justice C Jayachandran issued notice to the minor through the Station House Officer of Cheranalloor police station and adjourned the petition to November 19. The petition was filed by Bhadrakeerthy R J and Bharat Sankar R J, the children of the deceased scooter rider, Jayabalakrishnan.
The accident occurred on the Container Road at Cheranalloor in the early hours of October 25. According to the report, Jayabalakrishnan was returning home on his scooter after closing his wayside eatery when the car allegedly rammed into his vehicle. He died in the crash.
The police produced the juvenile accused before the Juvenile Justice Board on the same day. The board granted bail to the minor. The case subsequently moved before the children’s court after the deceased’s family challenged that decision.
On November 5, the children’s court dismissed the appeal and upheld the Juvenile Justice Board’s bail order. The deceased’s children then approached the High Court, seeking to quash the bail granted to the child in conflict with law.
The petitioners argued that the proviso to Section 12(1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act allows bail to be denied when releasing a child is likely to defeat the ends of justice or expose the child to moral, physical or psychological danger. They contended that the lower court had erred by holding that the gravity of the offence and the loss of human life could not be considered while deciding bail under Section 12.
The High Court’s order at this stage seeks the state government’s instructions and does not decide whether the bail should be cancelled. The minor has also been issued notice through the local police station.
The case places a fatal crash on one of Kochi’s major road corridors alongside questions about how juvenile bail provisions are applied when an alleged traffic offence results in a death. The court is scheduled to consider the petition again on November 19.
