NEW DELHI: Driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol is an offence for which there can be no leniency even if no major accident has happened, the Supreme Court has said.
A bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna made the observation while hearing an appeal filed by a person against his dismissal from service for drunken driving.
“Nobody can be permitted to drive the vehicle under the influence of alcohol,” the bench said while hearing the appeal filed of the employee against Allahabad High Court’s judgment, dismissing a writ petition refusing to set aside the order of his dismissal. Merely because there was no major loss and it was a minor accident cannot be a ground to show leniency, the SC said.
Noting that the fact that the person was driving a truck, carrying the Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel, under the influence of alcohol had been established, the bench observed that it was a very serious misconduct.