Mercedes hit and run case: Juvenile to be tried as adult

NEW DELHI: In a first, a teenager, who allegedly ran over a 32-year-old marketing executive while driving his father's Mercedes, will now face trial as an adult after the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on Saturday said the offence committed by him was “heinous”.

The Presiding Officer of the JJB passed the order on the application of Delhi Police which had sought transfer of the case to a trial court to try as adult the accused who turned major just four days after the April 4 incident.

Merc case: Teen to be tried as adult
The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), on Saturday allowed the plea of the Delhi Police seeking its nod to try the teenager, who allegedly ran over a 32-year-old man while driving his father’s Mercedes, as an adult in a trial court.

The JJB noted that the crime committed by the teenager was heinous. The police had moved a plea before the JJB against the teenager who had turned major just four days after the April 4 incident.

It is the first of its kind case since the amendment in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which allowed the Board to transfer cases of heinous offences by children to Sessions court.

As per section 2(33) of the Act, “heinous offences” include the offences for which minimum punishment under IPC or any other law for the time being in force is imprisonment for seven years or more.

The police had on May 26 chargesheeted the juvenile in the JJB for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Police had said in its charge sheet that the boy had fatally run over victim Siddharth Sharma with his father’s mercedes when Sharma was trying to cross a road near Ludlow Castle School in north Delhi on April 4.

The final report was filed for alleged offences under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 279 (driving on a public way so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life) and 337 (causing hurt by an act which endangers human life) against  him.