India

Court Upholds Bail for Judge’s 17‑Year‑Old Son in Fatal Kochi Crash

By HT Correspondent

The Ernakulam Sessions Court rejected appeals by the State and the victim’s family to cancel the bail granted to a 17‑year‑old boy accused of driving a luxury car into a scooter, killing a 55‑year‑old street‑food vendor in Kochi last month. The court upheld the Juvenile Justice Board’s decision to grant bail to the teenager, whose father is an additional district judge. The incident occurred on October 25 at about 2.30 a.m. near Cheranalloor when a Mercedes‑Benz driven by the judge’s minor son struck a two‑wheeler. Jayabalakrishnan, a resident of Manjali who ran a street‑food cart in the Chittor area, was thrown into the air and died on the spot. The teenager was immediately taken into police custody and later produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, which granted bail citing the absence of any prior criminal record. Bhadrakeerthy, daughter of the deceased, said the family was losing faith in the judiciary, noting drama and twists in the court proceedings. A detailed copy of the court order is awaited. The judge’s father, who presides over the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal in Kerala, was granted anticipatory bail by the high court on Thursday. Police said he was booked on additional charges of attempting to destroy evidence on Monday. He had earlier been booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash and negligent driving under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Motor Vehicles Act. Cheranalloor police reported that the victim’s family lodged a fresh complaint on Sunday, alleging that the minor’s father spent a lot of time at the accident site to destroy evidence and that he visited the police station after the accident and forced an officer to delete a photograph of his son taken by a member of the victim’s family. The judge had earlier been granted interim protection from arrest by the Kerala High Court and told the court he was asleep at the time of the incident and was not aware that his son had taken the vehicle from the house.