Drunken driving a grave menace to public safety, observes Punjab and Haryana HC

Chandigarh, Sep 26 (PTI) The Punjab and Haryana High Court has described drunken driving as a grave menace which strikes at the root of societal order and also held that any leniency in such cases would send a wrong signal and embolden others to indulge in similar hazardous conduct.

The court of justice Sumeet Goel passed these observations while rejecting the bail plea of a truck driver, who had hit a parked car on the Sangrur-Patiala road, leaving a 24-year-old MBBS student dead.

A case was registered against truck driver Jagtar Singh in November 2023 at Pasyana police station in Patiala under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act.

"The offence of drunken driving cannot be viewed in isolation as a mere act of mischief or lapse on the part of the offender. It constitutes a grave menace to public safety and strikes at the very root of societal order.

"A person who chooses to drive under the influence of alcohol does not merely endanger his own life but recklessly imperils the lives of innocent citizens using the road...undermining the very fabric of public safety and order," said the September 25 order.

"...the law, therefore, mandates strict treatment of such offences, for any leniency extended in such cases would send a wrong signal and embolden others to indulge in similar hazardous conduct," it said.

This court is of the considered that the petitioner does not deserve the concession of regular bail, it added.

The petitioner's counsel argued that the petitioner was aged about 70, and he had been in custody for over a year.

The counsel further submitted that in the FIR, it was alleged that the petitioner's truck struck the car of the complainant intentionally but did not disclose any motive for such an act.

The state counsel opposed the petitioner's regular bail plea, asserting that the allegations against him were of a serious nature and that if released on bail, he could influence or threaten the witnesses.

The FIR records that the petitioner, while driving in a heavily drunken state, rammed the parked car of the complainant at high speed, crushing the son of the complainant, a young MBBS student, to death on the spot, said the state counsel.

The court noted that the allegations against the truck driver were not of mere negligence but of culpable conduct falling under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code. "Though the challan has been presented and 15 prosecution witnesses remain to be examined, the apprehension expressed by the State that the petitioner, if released on bail, may attempt to influence or intimidate witnesses cannot be brushed aside," the order said. PTI CHS AMJ AMJ