Drunken Driving: Going To Jail Will Risk Job, Court Orders Man To Serve At Old-Age Home Instead [Read Judgment]

Adopting a lenient view towards a man, sole bread earner of his family, sentenced to two-day imprisonment for drunken driving, a Delhi court has ordered him to serve at an old-age home instead.

Additional Sessions Judge Sonu Agnihotri ordered the 36-year-old to do "seva" at old-age home for two weeks and file daily photographs of him doing the seva.

The court modified his sentence from two-week simple imprisonment to seva at old age home considering that going to jail will ruin his life and he might lose his job at a reputed multinational company.

Even as the judge modified his sentence, he stressed on the right to safe passage of people in general.

The court also modified the order of permanent cancellation of his driving licence to suspension for six months.

"It is not disputed that the appellant is not a previous convict. Appellant as per his identity card is doing a private job and is sole bread earner of his family. Appellant being first time offender deserves to be dealt with leniently but at the same time balance has to be maintained keeping in view right of others to have safe passage on the road in the circumstances wherein the appellant was challenged i.e. the quantity of alcohol was found to be much beyond prescribed limits in the present case.

"In these circumstances, appeal filed by appellant is allowed and impugned order dt 22.03.2019 is modified to the extent that appellant instead of being sent to simple imprisonment for two days be asked to do seva in Old Age Home, Sector 1, J.J Colony, Jankipuri, Bindapur near Talabwala Park, Shiv Mandir, New Delhi for period of two weeks from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. Appellant is directed to file daily photographs of doing seva. Appellant is directed to file daily photographs of doing seva after period of two weeks and let his presence in Old Age Home be certified by Manager of the said Old Age Home alongwith conduct report of appellant i.e. appellant performed tasks assigned to him," ordered ASJ Agnihotri.

The court also ordered that in case the appellant gives a miss, the order of two-day simple imprisonment shall stand retrieved.

In the instant case, the appellant was found driving under the influence of alcohol on the night of February 22. The quantity of liquor consumed was found to be 550 mg /100 ml which is much higher than permissible limit i.e. 30 mg/ 100 ml.

He appeared before the Magistrate on March 22 and pleaded guilty.

The magistrate had sentenced him to two-day simple imprisonment, a challan of Rs 2,000 and permanent cancellation of driving licence.

The appellant went in appeal challenging his conviction and sentence ruing that the quantity of alcohol was wrongly recorded by the police as 550mg and that he was not heavily drunk and was merely returning from an office party in Gurugram.

He also submitted that he is the sole bread earner of the family and has to take care of his wife, kids and parents.

The sessions court, however, held that having pleaded guilty before the magisterial court, he could not challenge his conviction but modified his sentence.

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