Incidents of drunken driving are on the rise and violators need to be dealt with strictly, a city court has said.
Special Judge N. K. Malhotra made the observation while imposing a fine of ₹30,000 on a 19-year-old challenging a magisterial court order convicting and sentencing him in a motor accident case.
Public roads
“Incidents of drunken driving are on the rise on public roads. These violators are to be dealt with strict hands. I am of the view ..., we have to look towards other motorists and pedestrians who are using public roads and the appellant cannot be left with leniency,” the judge said.
“The Metropolitan Magistrate [MM] has taken lenient view and sentenced the appellant to five days’ [imprisonment]. It is not a case of the appellant that he had not pleaded guilty to the offences mentioned in the challan and it is also not the case that the MM has not explained the consequences of his pleading guilty to the offences under the Motor Vehicle Act,” he added.
The court, however, set aside the five-day imprisonment given to the youth by the magisterial court on the ground that he was a first-time offender and had no criminal history.
Breathalyser test
According to the prosecution, west Delhi resident Gurnaam Singh was found driving his vehicle in a drunken condition on June 2. He was chased by the traffic police, who administered a breathalyser test, which revealed that he was heavily drunk, it added.
A case was registered against him. Gurnaam voluntarily pleaded guilty and a magisterial court awarded him five days’ imprisonment along with a fine of ₹6,700.
Challenging the order, he claimed he was not a previous offender and sought leniency on the ground that he had no criminal history.
