Nothing is private as long as you are in a public place — not even in one’s own car. For revelers and those who don’t enjoy at home as much as they do outside — preferably in a moving car — the Supreme Court’s new direction is not good news.
The top court has added a new dimension to the common belief that a car on the road constitutes private space and ruled that space to be public. This interpretation has wide-ranging ramifications. There are several laws that punish certain acts committed in a public place.
For instance, the Bombay Police Act allows the police to take action for “indecency” in a public place. This now extends to a moving car. In that sense, the latest apex court directive takes law beyond Section 268 of the IPC, where anyone can be booked for causing public nuisance after consumption of alcohol.
The clarification from the court has come at a time when law and order agencies like the police are grappling with the menace of public drinking in moving cars. In metropolitan cities like the capital Delhi, it is a full-time hazard, particularly after sunset. The common refrain from those who are questioned, is that since the act of drinking is in a private car, it does not constitute violation of public space.
However, police authorities now have it from the highest court in the land to take action where deemed fit. The social milieu — outside of the so-called initiated circles — still frowns upon drinking, considered a taboo in many families.
For such people, a moving vehicle provides the ideal private escape route. In many cases, alcohol imbibed in copious quantities in an automobile is a recipe for crime or a serious accident. Thankfully, the court’s ruling has cleared the fog on public behaviour. Now, it is for the forces of law and order to intervene.