Allow Cookies!
By using our website, you agree to the use of cookies
In a very bold move the Supreme Court has held that a private vehicle is not exempted from the definition of 'public place' under the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act 2016, which means that consumption of liquor within a private vehicle in a public place will be an offence under the prohibition laws in Bihar. This was given against an appeal filed against the refusal of the Patna High Court to exercise powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to quash the charge-sheet filed against the appellants.
The appellants were charge-sheeted under Section 53(a) of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act 2016 on the ground that they were found drunk inside a private vehicle by the excise party at Rajauli checkpost in Bihar. Two arguments were put forth. Firstly, that section 53(a), which punishes drinking in public place, is not applicable as private car is not a public place. Secondly,they cannot be punished under the Bihar laws for consuming alcohol in Jharkhand.The SC rejected the first argument on the basis of statutory definitions of 'public place' under the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act 2016 and Bihar Prohibition and Exchise Act 2016.
A public place indicates any place to which public have access, whether as a matter of right or not and includes all places visited by general public and also includes any open space.The key word in the definition was "access". Any place to which public have access, whether as a matter of right or not, is a public place. The bench observed that the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act 2016 has created a new class of offence. Section 37(b) of it punishes anyone who is "found" drunk within Bihar.The Court said that the issue whether they had consumed alcohol within Bihar or not was a question of fact, which cannot be decided in an appeal from a proceeding under Section 482 CrPC. Thus, the appeal was dismissed, giving liberty to the appellants to seek discharge from the Magistrate on the second issue.
86540
103860
630
114
59824