Kerala Mercedes crash case:High Court upholds judge’s son’s bail; victim’s daughter calls verdict ‘like a knife to the heart’

A Keralam court has refused to cancel the interim bail granted to a minor accused in a Mercedes-Benz crash in Cheranalloor, Kochi. The accused’s father is an Additional District Judge. Additional Sessions Judge Kavita Gangadharan on Thursday dismissed petitions filed by the state government and the victim’s family. They had challenged the Ernakulam Juvenile Justice Board’s (JJB) order granting bail to the 17-year-old. The court said there was no evidence to show that the accused had failed to cooperate with the investigation. Reacting to the verdict, the victim’s daughter said, “This decision feels like a knife being stabbed into my heart.” The accident took place late on October 25 in Kochi’s Cheranalloor area. The minor allegedly drove a speeding Mercedes and hit 55-year-old Jayabalakrishnan’s scooter from behind. He died in the crash. Minor’s father, a judge, named as accused As the car was registered in the judge’s name, the police, acting on the Kerala High Court’s directions, registered a case against him under Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act and named him as an accused. However, the High Court has stayed his arrest. The court said that the judge is a judicial officer and had already co-operated with the investigation. He had also appeared for questioning. Said in court: He did not know that his son had taken the car
The judge filed an anticipatory bail petition in the High Court, saying that he did not know his son had left home with the car. According to him, he had gone to sleep at 1:28 a.m. He learnt about the accident by phone at 2:14 a.m.