Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa Police is contemplating examining all cases of drunken driving, registered across different traffic cells, and moving the higher court seeking action against the offenders. The move, Director General of Police Muktesh Chander said, will act as a deterrent to drivers in the State.
“Our recommendation to the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) against drunken driving offenders, to penalise them under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act has not fetched positive results. As such, we will think of appealing in the higher court to either suspend the licence and/or send the offender to jail as per the law,” he told Herald.
While Traffic Department had earlier contemplated taking such an action, Chander has decided to set an example by zeroing in on the present cases. “If there is any drunken driving case that attracts punishment under the law, we will take it up with the higher court. This, however, also depends on the time-frame from the date the cases were registered,” he added.
There were 1800 cases of drunk driving reported on the State’s roads between January-August 2016 but the figures skyrocketed during the corresponding period of this year with more than 2000 such cases. September this year saw Traffic Department registering 200 cases which reveals that drunken driving still remains a major issue.
