Mere smell of alcohol doesn't mean person is drunk: HC

One-liner: The mere smell of alcohol cannot be construed to mean that the person is intoxicated or is under the influence of any liquor, the Kerala High Court has observed while quashing a case registered against a govt servant.

Quashing of FIR: The judge, while ordering the quashing of an FIR against a 38-year-old village assistant, said that consuming liquor in a private place without causing nuisance or annoyance to anybody will not attract any offence.

• The court was hearing a criminal miscellaneous petition filed by the village assistant, seeking to quash an FIR filed against him by police in 2013.
• Police had registered a case under Section 118 (A) of the Kerala Police (KP) Act against the person, saying when he was called to the station to identify an accused, he was under the influence of alcohol.

Called to identify an accused: The aggrieved person has moved the court, saying he was called to the police station at seven in the evening to identify an accused, against whom a case was registered under Section 353 of the IPC.

• The court noted that in order to attract an offence punishable under the said section of KP Act, a person should be found in a public place in an intoxicated manner, incapable of looking after himself.
• It also said that the available records did not show that the petitioner was sent to a doctor for a clinical examination or to show that his blood test was conducted to prove that he was intoxicated.

No criminal antecedents: The court said the village assistant reached the police station only because he was asked to and that the prosecution has no case that the petitioner had criminal antecedents.