Drunken driving cases -
Accused cannot be punished by mere blood test.
Hitherto, there were admissions of pleading guilty in drunken driving cases, even if there was no breath analyser test. But the Kerala High Court, in a recent case in Sagimon alias Prakash V. State 2014 3 KHC 586 held that, Offence under section 185 can be said to have been committed only if alcohol content exceeding 30 mg per 100 ml of blood is detected by a breath analyser.
Requirement of test by breath analyser cannot be dispensed with and medical examination or laboratory examination cannot be a substitute test by breath analyser. Therefore, now in the present scenario, there cannot be any conviction on drunken driving cases, if breath analyser test is not conducted.
It is already held by the High Court of Kerala on an earlier occasion in Mehaboob V. State that the offences under the Motor Vehicles Act are non congnisable and the police cannot investigate such cases, without obtaining order from the concerned magistrate, even though a police officer may arrest such accused.
