No minimum sentence in ‘strict law’, tippler gets away with mild penalty in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: When Gujarat government tightened liquor laws in 2017 hiking penalty and jail term for prohibition violators, it expected the strict penalty to prove a deterrent.
However, tipplers are getting away with mere slap on the wrist with courts upholding milder punishment citing that amended laws does not mention any minimum sentence for drinking alcohol.
The state government recently failed to secure punishment for one Kiran Thakor, who was let off by a metropolitan court with a token punishment of one-day sitting in courtroom and Rs 500 fine, after recording his conviction.
The court showed leniency after Thakor pleaded guilty. He was charged with drinking alcohol and loitering in a public place in inebriated condition and for behaving in an obscene manner. He was booked under Sections 66 (1) b and 85 (1) of the amended Gujarat Prohibition Act.
Mild punishment opposed
Thakor was booked by Kagdapith police in November 2017, and the court awarded the token punishment in July 2018. The state government refused to accept the order and challenged it in the city sessions court saying that Thakor cannot be allowed to get away with a mild penalty after the government made prohibition laws stringent three years ago. It insisted that according to Section 85 (1) for loitering in public places and obscene behaviour, there should be at least one year punishment and the court should review the lower court’s sentence.
The sessions court has not agreed with the state government and observed that in the charge-sheet filed against Thakor, there was no evidence to prove that he was behaving in an obscene manner in public. The medical report suggested that he was very much conscious. Hence, he could not be punished for an offence for which the evidence was missing. The court accepted that when Thakor admitted his guilt; the magisterial court had all reasons to convict him for drinking. And the prohibition laws do not prescribe any minimum sentence for the offence under Section 66(1) b of the Prohibition Act.