The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to three persons accused of tampering with blood samples in connection with an investigation into a car crash in Pune in May 2024 that killed two, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan granted bail to Aditya Avinash Sood, Ashish Satish Mittal and Santosh Gaikwad, saying that all three of them had been in custody for 18 months.

“..their continued incarceration will greatly prejudice...[the matter],” Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying.

The case pertains to the death of two persons after a 17-year-old boy allegedly crashed into their motorbike with his Porsche car in Pune on May 19, 2024. The minor, reportedly from the family of a prominent city realtor, was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.

He was booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The prosecution had also alleged that the father of the juvenile driver, his wife and his associates conspired with doctors at Sassoon General Hospital to manipulate test reports of the blood samples collected after the accident to check for alcohol content.

The legal news portal quoted the prosecution as claiming that Rs 3 lakh was also paid to the hospital staff through intermediaries to ensure that the tests showed no traces of alcohol.

Gaikwad was accused of having facilitated the monetary transaction. He was arrested on June 4, 2024.

Sood and Mittal were arrested after their blood samples were alleged to be used for tests linked to two minors who were in the car with the 17-year-old driver at the time of the accident, PTI reported.

During the proceedings on Monday, the bench allowed the petitions for bail filed by the three men on the condition that they comply with the requirements of the trial court, Bar and Bench reported.

The Supreme Court also observed that the parents had failed to control their children.

“The main one responsible is the parents who give money to children to have gala time,” the legal news portal quoted the court as saying. “Parents have no time to spend with children and that is why what is the best thing to give – the ATM card!”

The Bombay High Court in December had rejected the bail petitions of eight persons accused in the case, including Gaikwad, Sood and Mittal.

The case had sparked widespread outrage after the Juvenile Justice Board had, on the day of the crash, granted bail to the minor who was driving the car. The board had directed him to write an essay and work with the traffic police for 15 days.

Following the outrage, the Juvenile Justice Board cancelled the minor’s bail order on May 22, 2024, and remanded him to an observation home.

On June 25, 2024, the High Court granted him bail and ordered that he should be placed under the care of his aunt.

In July, the Juvenile Justice Board ruled that the 17-year-old will be tried as a minor.