The Kerala High Court has asked the State government to respond to a plea by the family of Jayabalakrishnan, the two-wheeler rider killed in the October 25 Cheranalloor crash in Kochi, seeking cancellation of the bail granted to the teenage driver of the Mercedes-Benz car that hit him.

Source: Bar and Bench

The latest move follows an earlier development in the same case: last week, Ernakulam Additional District and Sessions Judge Kavitha Gangadharan dismissed appeals filed by the State and by Jayabalakrishnan's relatives against the Juvenile Justice Board's decision to grant the teenager bail on October 26. The sessions court held that there were no circumstances warranting denial of bail to the child in conflict with law.

Jayabalakrishnan's daughter, Bhadrakeerthi R.J., has now filed a criminal review petition in the High Court seeking to quash the November 5 sessions court order. She has argued that the lower court overlooked the exceptions in Section 12(1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, under which bail can be withheld if a juvenile's release would defeat the ends of justice or expose the child to moral, physical or psychological danger.

Source: The Indian Messenger

The crash took place in the early hours of October 25, when the Mercedes-Benz, allegedly driven by the 17-year-old, hit Jayabalakrishnan's two-wheeler at Cheranalloor. The teenager, the son of a sitting additional district judge, was initially booked for rash driving and causing death by negligence under Sections 281 and 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. After protests by the victim's family and local residents, police added the more serious charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 105 of the BNS, along with offences under Sections 181, 183, 199A(1) and 199A(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act.

The sessions court, while dismissing the appeals, also flagged several issues in how the case was handled from the beginning by the police, the Juvenile Justice Board, the prosecution and the deceased's family, and questioned why an FIR was lodged when the alleged offences did not fall in the category of heinous crimes for a child in conflict with law.

With the High Court now seeking the State's response, the bail question in the closely watched case will be examined afresh. The petitioner's plea argues that the gravity of the alleged offence and the loss of life cannot be treated as extraneous to the bail considerations under Section 12(1).