Kerala High Court Directs Investigation into Fatal Crash Case Involving Juvenile Driver

KOCHI: Hearing appeals against bail granted to the 17-year-old accused in the fatal Cheranalloor crash, the Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the investigating officer to submit details of similar cases in which juvenile drivers were booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The Additional District and Sessions Court designated to try cases involving atrocities against women and children in Ernakulam, presided over by Judge Kavitha Gangadharan, gave the Crime Branch Assistant Commissioner one hour to furnish details of FIRs registered in the district or elsewhere in Keralam invoking Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in accidents involving juvenile drivers. The judge sought the information to examine whether the provision had been invoked in comparable cases involving minors or whether the Cheranalloor crash case was an exception. She cautioned the investigating officer that he would have to explain if no such cases had been registered elsewhere and Section 105 had been applied only in the present case. The court also questioned the prosecution's decision to file the appeal against the Juvenile Justice Board's bail order before the Principal Sessions Court instead of the designated court for cases involving juveniles, which is the only such court in Ernakulam district. The judge further sought clarification from the prosecution on whether the Juvenile Justice Model Rules constituted the sole framework prescribed by the state government for dealing with children in conflict with the law. The hearing follows a contentious session on Monday, when the court expressed displeasure over the prosecution and the counsel representing the deceased's family trading allegations against each other. The judge subsequently ordered that further proceedings be conducted in camera, despite objections from the family's counsel.