Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday declared that the police do not have the authority to grab vehicles in drunk driving cases.
Disposing off 40 writ petitions regarding drunk driving, Justice K. Lakshman passed a series of orders. The court stated that, if a drunk person is found driving the vehicle, the police shall tell an accompanying person, with a valid driving license, to take over the steering wheel. In case the person is alone, the police have been instructed to inform a relative of the offender and let the latter drive.
The police have the authority to take the vehicle in their possession temporarily if the aforementioned rules cannot be implemented. As per the court, the police must release the ceased vehicle, handing it over to the owner or any other person after the production of the registration certificate of the vehicle.
According to a report by Telangana Today, with regards to the punishment to be meted out to drunk driving offenders, the police are supposed to file a charge sheet before the magistrate in three days. Justice Lakshman stated that any violation of the above directions would be viewed as contempt and necessary procedure will be initiated. He further clarified that the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act don’t permit the seizure of vehicles in drunk driving cases.
