The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Maharashtra government on a bail plea filed by Vishal Agarwal, father of the minor accused in the 2024 Pune Porsche crash case, and posted the matter for hearing on March 10.
A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing Agarwal’s appeal challenging the Bombay High Court’s December 16, 2025 order refusing him bail.
The case arises from the May 19, 2024 incident in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area, where a 17-year-old boy, allegedly driving a Porsche under the influence of alcohol, fatally knocked down two IT professionals.
During the proceedings, the top court sought the state government’s response on Agarwal’s plea. The high court had rejected bail not only for him but also for several other accused in connection with the alleged blood sample swapping case.
The Supreme Court has been hearing multiple bail pleas linked to the matter. On February 2, it granted bail to three accused — alleged middleman Amar Santish Gaikwad and co-accused Aditya Avinash Sood and Ashish Satish Mittal — noting that they had been in custody for around 18 months. While granting relief, the court observed that parents must be held accountable in cases involving juveniles where there is lack of control.
Earlier, on January 23 and January 7, the court had also sought the Maharashtra government’s response on separate bail pleas filed by other accused persons.
Sood and Mittal were arrested on August 19, 2024 after investigators alleged that their blood samples were used for tests in place of samples of two juveniles who were present in the car along with the main accused at the time of the crash.
The Bombay High Court had on December 16, 2025 rejected the bail applications of eight accused, including Gaikwad, Sood and Mittal.
The case had triggered public outrage after the Juvenile Justice Board initially granted bail to the minor on conditions including writing a 300-word essay on road safety. Following protests, the police sought review of the order, after which the Board sent the juvenile to an observation home. The High Court later ordered his release in June 2024.
Apart from the juvenile, ten persons — including his parents Vishal Agarwal and Shivani Agarwal, doctors Ajay Tawre and Shreehari Halnor, Sassoon Hospital staffer Atul Ghatkamble, Sood, Mittal and Arun Kumar Singh — were arrested in the alleged blood sample manipulation case and sent to judicial custody.
