The colourful festival of Holi turned out to be a sad one for hundreds of people in Chandigarh as their family members were sentenced to 1 month of imprisonment (Jail Term). A CJM (Chief Judicial Magistrate) Court in Chandigarh sentenced 1 month jail term to as many as 33 people for breaking the law on the eve of Holi in Chandigarh. These 33 people include students, businessmen as well as those working at various organizations in Chandigarh.
The Offence
The imprisonment orders to all 33 people of Chandigarh were given by a judge of district court – CJM Anubhav Sharma on the next day after Holi. Earlier, Chandigarh Traffic Police had issued challans for 746 vehicles which were found violating traffic rules. Out of these, 107 challans were issued for dunken driving.
All 107 people were asked to come to district court the next day. 33 people who appeared before the judge were punished with a jail term of 1 month and suspension of their driving license for 6 months.
CJM said that these people need to be taught a lesson and the court ruling will also be a learning lesson for many who drink and drive in Chandigarh.
This is the first time ever that a judge has put 33 people all together in prison and that too for drunk driving. Usually, the drunken driving offenders are made to watch traffic rule videos and are made to stand all day in the court as a punishment. This time in 2016, this Chandigarh judge has given imprisonment sentence of 1 month to 33 people. According tot he law, a person found to be driving on city roads while under the influence of alcohol can be imprisoned for up to 6 months.
Learning Lesson for Chandigarh
Chandigarh is a city where youth takes to roads on their bikes and cars to celebrate the festival of Holi. Traffic rules are often broken on this day and cops on duty have a hard time to controlling them.
By this decision of the CJM in which he sentenced 33 people to 1 month jail term for drunken driving in Chandigarh, residents will surely be more cautious next time and think twice before indulging in drunken driving.
Image Credits: Amar Ujala