Porsche Accident : Accused Vedant Agarwal barred from driving till he's 25

Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar said the 17-year-old boy, who fatally knocked down two motorcycle-borne IT professionals with his Porsche car in Pune, will be barred from getting a driving licence till he turns 25.

 

State transport officials have also said that permanent registration of the Porsche Taycan had been pending since March since the owner did not pay a fee of Rs 1,758.

 

 

Meanwhile, the police have seized a bill of Rs 48,000 from a bar where the minor had gone prior to the accident that killed the two IT professionals, identified as Anis Awadhiya and Ashwini Costa, from Madhya Pradesh.

 

Earlier, a case of culpable homicide under section 304 was filed against him, but the court granted him bail within 14 hours of being detained on grounds that he was a minor.

 

Bhimanwar told the PTI news agency on Tuesday that the luxury vehicle involved in Sunday's accident that took place in the city's Kalyani Nagar, won't be allowed to register at any Regional Transport Office (RTO) for 12 months as its existing temporary registration will be cancelled under provisions of the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act.

 

 

 

"When it was produced at the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO), it was found that a certain registration fee was not paid, and the owner was asked to pay the amount for completion of the procedure," he said, adding that the vehicle was sent to Pune on a temporary registration after it was imported by a Bengaluru-based dealer.

 

"However, the vehicle was not brought to the RTO for the completion of the registration process after that."

 

According to the state transport officials, road tax is exempted for electric vehicles registered in Maharashtra. The registration fees applicable for the Porsche Taycan model were only Rs 1,758, which included Rs 1,500 hypothecation fees, Rs 200 smart card RC fees and Rs 58 postal charges.

 

Citing their records, the officials said the vehicle had a valid temporary registration certificate issued by Karnataka with a validity of six months from March to September 2024, adding that the Bengaluru-based dealer was not at fault since he handed over the car after the temporary registration was done.

 

When vehicles are under the temporary registration period, they can only be used to drive to and from the RTO.

Bhimanwar told the PTI news agency that the Pune RTO had been asked to register a police complaint for violation of provisions in the MV Act.

 

Meanwhile, another top official of the transport department said the Porsche would be impounded for 12 months, adding that there was gross negligence in the Pune accident case as the teen was driving his luxury vehicle at a speed over 160 kmph, and allegedly in an inebriated state.

 

The official also referred to several violations, including driving the vehicle without a driving licence and without its registration. Vishal Agarwal, the teen driver's father and a real estate developer who was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the accident, will be produced before a Pune court today after medical tests.

 

Also on Wednesday, a state government hospital will publish the blood report of the teen driver, who allegedly consumed liquor before the fatal accident.