The Bombay High Court said that police have every right to quiz people who are out at night and refused to dismiss an FIR against a man who was among an allegedly drunken group that sped away on being asked to stop by a cop during night patrol.
The FIR was filed by a sub-inspector in February 2019. The sub-inspector was on night patrol on the WE highway at Vile Parle in Mumbai when the incident happened and at around 1:50 am the driver of a car did not stop on being asked to, hit a barricade and was ultimately stopped near Andheri bridge after a brief chase.
The police said there were two cars with seven people, adding that the driver of the first car was in an inebriated state, refused the breathalyser and offered a bribe. He tested positive in the breath-analyser test and did not possess a driving license.
According to police, the group refused to sign on the penalty receipt and even tried to take videos. The seven abused the police personnel and manhandled additional staff sent to the spot, the FIR alleged.
The petitioner had argued against IPC Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant) under which the FIR was filed, saying that the said section is not attracted as he was in the second car and had exchanged his seat after the women alighted from the first car. He said he had not consumed alcohol.
Petitioner’s advocate said that he has taken up a new job and has no criminal history.
To this, the court said from the it is irrelevant whether the petitioner was sitting in a different car and exchanged seats with the women in the first car. “It is important to note that after this happened, there was hurling of abuses at the police and manhandling,” the court said.
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