The Maharashtra Excise Department on Tuesday sealed the two restaurants which are said to have served liquor to the 17-year-old boy who rammed his Porche car onto two motorbike-borne software engineers in Kalyani Nagar in Pune city on Sunday.
Following an uproar over how the juvenile was let go on bail by the Juvenile Justice Board within hours, the Pune Police launched an investigation into the incident, which ended with the father of the minor and two bar owners being arrested. The police claim the accused was drunk at the time as he, along with his friends, had visited two establishments between Saturday night leading to early hours of Sunday to consume liquor.
Following this, the district collectorate issued orders to seal the two outlets, Cosie Restaurant and Hotel Blak Club. While Cosie is located in Koregaon Park, an area adjacent to Kalyani Nagar, the Blak Club is in Mundhwa.
"The Cosie restaurant and Blak Club in Marriot Suite have been sealed with immediate effect by the state Excise Department following orders from district collector Suhas Diwase," said a statement from the district administration.
"A special inspection drive has been started by the Excise department to ensure pubs and license-holding restaurants do not serve liquor to underage patrons and operate beyond the 1.30 am deadline," said the statement. "If any violations are found, cases would be registered against such establishments and their licences will be cancelled," it warned.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis denied police negligence in the incident. Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, made a surprise visit to the Pune Police commissionerate to review the case on Tuesday.
He said there was no pressure on the police regarding the case. "There was no pressure on the police in this case and no negligence has been found. An ACP-rank officer has been asked to check the CCTV footage of the police station during the entire period (post the juvenile's detention) to check whether someone was helping (the boy) or putting pressure (on police). If something of this kind is found, action will be taken," Fadnavis assured.
He said police have taken the case seriously and police will not tolerate someone getting bail despite fatally knocking down two persons.
Fadnavis agreed that the Juvenile Justice Board was lenient to the accused and that the 15-day social service for the teen was shocking. He said changes were made to the Juvenile Justice case after the Nirbhaya incident that if the accused is above 16 and the crime is heinous, he can be treated as an adult. "A revision application has been filed by the police and we will explore every way until justice is provided," Fadnavis said, adding that the age of the boy in police record was 17 years and 8 months.
On the Porsche car being allowed to ply without registration, he said the high-end vehicle was purchased in Bengaluru and brought to Pune. "As per preliminary information, the Pune RTO carried out an inspection of the car but the road tax which was required to be paid was not paid. If there is any violation regarding that, a separate FIR will be registered," he said.
