BENNY MON Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) "Drunken driving has become a menace to our society. Every day drunken driving results in accidents and several human lives are lost, pedestrians in many of our cities are not safe. Late night parties among urban elite have now become a way of life followed by drunken driving. Alcohol consumption impairs consciousness and vision and it becomes impossible to judge accurately how far away the objects are. When depth perception deteriorates, eye muscles lose their precision causing inability to focus on the objects. Further, in more unfavourable conditions like fog, mist, rain, etc., whether it is night or day, it can reduce the visibility of an object to the point of being below the limit of discernibility. In short, alcohol leads to loss of coordination, poor judgment, slowing down of reflexes and distortion of vision."

(2.) The above observation of the Apex Court, though faded in the memory lanes of the past, often crops up as a reminder, or rather an eye-opener, whenever a mishap caused due to drunken driving comes up for consideration before a court of law in India. But unfortunately, the law enforcing agencies, in many cases of drunken-driving, are not diligent enough to stick on to the procedural requirements for a successful prosecution. Here is a case where such a lapse on the part of the investigating agency has its cost on the escape scot-free of an offender, who is alleged to have driven a motor car with alcohol content amounting to 121 mg per 100 ml in his blood.

(3.) The petitioner is the accused in S.T.No.841/2019 on the files of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Mavelikkara. The offences alleged against him are under Sec. 279 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short, 'IPC') and Sec. 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (in short, 'MV Act'). He seeks to quash the proceedings in the said case on the grounds of procedural irregularities on the part of the investigating agency.