Drunk driving: MCD employee's jail term reduced

A Delhi court has reduced the ten- day jail term of a 47-year-old MCD employee, convicted for driving in a drunken condition and without a licence, to one- day imprisonment, saying he was "remorseful of his act".
District and Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur, however, upheld the conviction of Lekh Raj, Supervisor with Municipal Corporation of Delhi (South-West), observing that driving a vehicle in a drunken condition not only endangers life of the driver but also that of other road users.
"It is apparent that the appellant (Raj) was heavily drunk as alcohol content, as per his analysis report, was found to be 303.5 mg per 100 ml which is extremely higher than permissible limit i.E. 30 mg per 100 ml.

"It is a known fact that driving a vehicle in drunken condition not only endangers the life of driver but also life of other road users. In the facts and circumstances of the case, since Raj is remorseful of his act, while maintaining conviction, sentence order is partially modified and sentence is reduced to one day simple imprisonment," the judge said.
The sessions court modified the order of the trial court on the appeal filed by Raj, resident of Uttam Nagar here, seeking setting aside of the jail term on the ground that it would make his family suffer irreparable loss.

Raj was convicted and jailed for the offences under Motor Vehicle (MV) Act after he was caught driving in a drunken state and without a licence on the night of May 28, this year.

Besides the jail term of ten days, the magisterial court had also imposed a fine of Rs 2,500 on him while holding him guilty under sections 185 (drunk driving) and 181 (driving without licence) of the MV Act.
In his appeal, Raj had contended that the sentence imposed was too harsh as he was a first offender and was a government employee working in the MCD.

He had also submitted that he was the sole bread earner of the family consisting of his parents, wife and two school- going children and if he was sent to jail, his family would suffer irreparable loss, financial hardship and his whole life would be spoiled.