An important decision of Patna High Court is in discussion amid the prohibition law in Bihar. The court has made it clear that only on the basis of the report of the breath analyzer machine, it cannot be assumed that a person has consumed alcohol. According to the court, medical tests like blood or urine test will be necessary to confirm this. This means that now the police will not be able to take action only on the readings of the machine, but will also have to collect concrete evidence like the doctor’s clinical examination, video recording and Panchnama of the spot. Let us know in this news what is breath analyzer, how does it work, why did the court refuse to accept it as the final evidence, now which report will be legally valid and how many cases of drinking and driving are reported in India. Understand.
How many people drink alcohol in India?
India is among the largest alcohol consuming countries in the world. According to the 2019 report of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, about 16 crore people in the age group of 10 to 75 years consume alcohol in the country. According to many other estimates, this number is believed to be between 16 to 18 crores. According to the ministry, about 2.9 crore people are also suffering from alcohol addiction. The average annual consumption of alcohol per person in the country is about 5.7 litres. According to the report of IWSR and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, India alone consumes about 50 percent of the total whiskey produced in the world.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), 18.9 percent of men and 1.1 percent of women aged 15 years and above in India consume alcohol. 20.6 percent of men in rural areas and 15.5 percent of men in urban areas drink alcohol, while among women this figure is 1.4 percent in rural areas and 0.5 percent in urban areas.
What is a breath analyzer and how does it work?
A breath analyzer is a portable electronic machine, which is used to give an initial estimate of the amount of alcohol present in a person’s body. When a person blows into the machine, the breath coming out of his lungs reaches the sensor of the machine. Based on the ethanol particles present in the breath, the machine gives a digital reading, which is shown as Blood Alcohol Concentration i.e. BAC. This is the reason why police use this machine first during road checking, because it gives results in a few seconds.
What did Patna High Court say?
This case was related to the dismissal of a policeman from Motihari from his job during the prohibition law in Bihar. The policeman said that he had not consumed alcohol but because he was taking medicine, he was smelling like alcohol. While hearing the case, Patna High Court said that only on the basis of report of breath analyzer machine, it cannot be proved that a person has consumed alcohol. The court accepted that scientific evidence like blood or urine test is necessary to confirm the consumption of alcohol. On this basis, the order of dismissal of the concerned policeman was cancelled.
Why did the court refuse to accept this as final evidence?
It has been said in the old decisions of Patna High Court and Supreme Court that the readings of breath analyzer are not always 100 percent accurate. Many times, wrong readings can occur due to alcohol-containing cough syrup, mouthwash, some medicines or the machine not being calibrated at the right time. In such a situation, blaming a person or taking strict action against him only on the basis of machine data is considered against the principle of natural justice. For this reason, courts have considered medical examination as more reliable and conclusive evidence.
Now which report will be valid?
Patna High Court has made it clear that now only the reading of breath analyzer will not be considered as confirmation of a person’s drinking. If the machine indicates the presence of alcohol, then the police will have to conduct a blood test or urine test of the person concerned. The chemical test report coming from the lab will be considered as the primary and strongest evidence in the court. Along with this, the doctor’s medical report will also be important, in which a complete record of the person’s physical condition will be prepared. This means that now not just a machine, but scientific investigation will be necessary for legal action.
How will the police identify alcoholics now?
After the court’s decision, the police investigation process will also be stronger than before. First of all, screening will be done with breath analyzer on the spot. If alcohol is confirmed in the machine, then the suspected person will be taken to a government hospital and a blood or urine test will be done. Apart from this, the doctor will also check whether the person’s gait is normal or not, whether his speech is faltering or not, what is the condition of the pupils of the eyes and whether he is mentally normal or not. A record of all these things will be prepared, so that strong evidence can be presented in the court later.
Video recording and Panchnama will also become evidence
After the decision of the High Court, now the police will not depend only on the report of the machine. Video recording will also be done on the spot to make the action legally strong. If a person appears intoxicated, his conversations, movements and behavior can be recorded on camera. Apart from this, Panchnama will also be prepared in the presence of independent witnesses present on the spot. This will make it easier to prove in the court that the action was not taken only on the basis of machine readings, but on the basis of other circumstances and evidence.
What does the law say on drink and drive?
In India, under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, if more than 30 mg of alcohol is found in 100 ml of a person’s blood, then he is considered legally drunk. In such cases, if caught for the first time, there can be a fine of up to Rs 10,000 and jail up to six months. If the same mistake is repeated again within three years, there is a provision of fine up to Rs 15,000 and jail up to two years. Therefore, in medical examination, the report of Blood Alcohol Concentration i.e. BAC is considered most important.
How big a problem is drunk driving in India?
Data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and NCRB show that every year more than 1.68 lakh people die in road accidents in India. Of these, about 2.5 percent deaths occur due to driving under the influence of alcohol. This means that every year about 4 thousand to 4,500 people lose their lives just because of drink and drive. At the same time, studies related to AIIMS and NIMHANS have also revealed that about 45.9 percent of the drivers who reach the emergency wards of hospitals with serious injuries are found to have alcohol in their bodies. It is clear from this that at the actual level the problem of drunk driving is bigger than the government records.
Will the use of breath analyzer be stopped?
This decision does not mean at all that the use of breath analyzer machines will stop. Like before, the police will do the initial investigation with the same machine during road checking. The only difference will be that now its report will not be considered as the final evidence. If alcohol is confirmed in the machine, then medical examination, doctor’s report, video recording and other scientific evidence will be collected. This means that the breath analyzer will still be the first step in the investigation, but the biggest evidence to take a decision in the court will be the blood or urine test report.
What will be the impact on common people?
This decision of Patna High Court has made it clear that action cannot be taken against a person only on the basis of breath analyzer reading. Now the police will have to collect scientific investigation, medical reports and other solid evidence. On one hand, this will reduce the possibility of wrong action and on the other hand, strong and reliable evidence can be presented before the court in real cases. This is the reason that now the breath analyzer will be considered only as a screening tool, while the final decision will be based on the medical examination.
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