Refusing to grant relief to a man guilty of driving in an inebriated state, a Delhi court has upheld his conviction and sentence saying ‘roads of Delhi are one of the most dangerous stretches’ and instances of drunken driving causing fatal accidents are on the rise.
Dismissing the appeal filed by Uttar Pradesh resident Birjesh Kumar against the August 2014 order of a trial court, Additional Sessions Judge Hemani Malhotra said he was found driving his vehicle in a heavily-drunken state endangering the lives of other people on the road.
‘It goes without saying that roads of Delhi are one of the most dangerous stretches ever known and owing to increasing instances of drunken driving and fatal accidents even Supreme Court has ruled that a fatal accident by a drunken driver invokes offence punishable with up to 10 years rigorous imprisonment,’ the judge said.
The court said, ‘The convict was found driving his vehicle in a heavily-drunken state. On being checked with the breath analyser, he was found to have a large quantity of alcohol in his blood, much beyond the permissible limit.’
While rejecting Kumar’s contention that the order on sentence was very harsh while the offence was minor in nature, the court said, ‘The convict by his act has not only put his life in danger but also the life of other road users.’
According to prosecution, Kumar was found driving a commercial light goods vehicle in a drunken state at about 3.05 pm in central Delhi.