New Delhi: Calling the minor accused in the Mercedes hit and-run case a “potential menace” on roads, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on Tuesday denied him bail, saying he was a repeat offender who had been challaned on three previous occasions and was involved in a previous road accident.
The teenager’s case showed bad parenting, the JJB observed, adding that the parents themselves hardly seemed to have any regard for the law. However, the board is yet to take a decision on whether to allow the accused to be tried as an adult.
Sources said the JJB agreed with the police’s contention that the teenage was a habitual offender and should not be released on bail as repeated challans had failed to have any “reformative effect” on him.
While speeding in a car on April 4, the teenager allegedly mowed down 32-year-old marketing consultant Sidharth Sharma in north Delhi’s Civil Lines area. The accused, who turned 18 four days after the accident, was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
While denying bail to the accused, JJB cited three previous occasions on which the teenager was challaned — February 25, 2014, September 19, 2014 and June 17, 2015.