Caught drunk in dry Gujarat? Plead guilty

AHMEDABAD: Pleading guilty is in the tipplers’ best interest. And it has been recently proved in courts. Hundreds of tipplers who have admitted to drinking liquor and have begged for leniency citing their ‘poverty’ and promised to never indulge in boozing in future.

Those who pleaded guilty were shown leniency. In a host of prohibition cases that were taken up by courts across the state on the day of Lok Adalat, the court awarded minimum punishment – sitting in courtroom till evening and a fine of Rs 300 or Rs 500.

However, two persons in Barwala town of Ahmedabad district – Suresh Kavtaliya and Kalu Khavaliya – decided to swim against the tide. They pleaded ‘not guilty’ and invited trial. The FSL reports were showing alcohol content in their blood above permissible limits. Their advocates’ efforts to find loopholes in the testing of blood and preparation of the report by the forensic laboratory failed.

After the trial, the judicial magistrate in Barwala court found both of them guilty and punished them with one-year imprisonment for loitering on public streets in inebriated condition under Section 85(1) of the Gujarat Prohibition Act. They were also awarded two-month jail term for drinking under Section 66(1) of the Act. Both have been slapped with penalty of Rs 500 also.

On the other hand, there were many like Rajendra Solanki in Viramgam, Rajesh Chauhan, Sanjay Parthibhai and Narendra Lakshmanbhai of Ahmedabad, who pleaded guilty before courts. They urged for minimum punishment. The courts cited a Gujarat high court order passed by Justice J N Bhatt saying that minimum punishment should be imposed on such remorseful offenders to save court’s time and reduce pendency.

The courts, whether they were booked under old Bombay Prohibition Act or the new and more stringent Gujarat Prohibition Act, let the tipplers off with minimum punishment. There were many cases of prohibition violation in which the offenders had conveyed to courts that they were ready to plead guilty. Hence their cases were taken up during the special sitting during Lok Adalat held on December 8.