Court reduces man's jail term in drunken driving case

The jail term of a 40-year-old man, who was convicted in a drunken driving case, has been reduced from 25 days to five days by a Delhi court which considered his social and economic circumstances while deciding the matter.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Rajesh Kumar Goel upheld the magistrate's order on conviction and suspension of the driving licence of Lalit Singh for six months but reduced his imprisonment while accepting his submission that his family would be "in great difficulty" if he was jailed.
"In view of the submission made and taking into consideration, social, educational and economic background of the appellant (Singh), the sentence as awarded by the trial court is modified to the extent that in place of simple imprisonment for 25 days, he is sentenced to five days imprisonment," the ASJ said.

The court, however, refused to interfere with magistrate's order on suspension of his licence for six months.
The ASJ also upheld Singh's conviction under the Motor Vehicle Act, while noting that he had pleaded guilty and had not challenged his conviction.
The sessions court was hearing an appeal filed by Singh, a driver by profession, against a magisterial court's order of July 10, that had sentenced him to 25 days in jail for drunken driving near Narela here.

He had also challenged the order on suspension of his driving licence for six months saying that it was a "harsh" punishment and would disable him from earning his livelihood and he had a family to take care of.

He also submitted that in case he is sent behind bars, his entire family would be in difficulty.
The magisterial court had also imposed a fine of Rs 3,100 on Singh which he had already paid.