Caught driving drunk, man to help cops, serve at Gurudwara

NEW DELHI, July 20: A 35-year-old man, sentenced to five days in jail for driving in a drunken state, has been spared imprisonment by a Delhi court on the condition that he would assist police at busy traffic intersections and serve at a Gurudwara.
Additional Sessions Judge S C Rajan spared Delhi resident Manjinder Singh of the jail term and assigned him civic jobs, saying “it would meet the ends of justice if he is given an opportunity to mend himself and learn norms of civic society.”
The court asked him to report to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Traffic), South West Delhi, in morning for three days for assisting police at busy traffic signals.
“The DCP will depute him to assist the traffic police officials on duty at any busy traffic red light under his jurisdiction in managing or diverting traffic from 10 am to 5 pm for three days with effect from July 20,” the court said, while modifying five days’ sentence awarded to Manjinder by a magisterial court here.
Ordering Manjinder to serve at a Bangla Sahib Gurudwara  here on each Sunday for a month, between 4 pm to 10 pm, the court said he has no criminal history and is a young man who is starting his career.
Manjinder had come to the sessions court seeking leniency after a magisterial court on June 25, 2012 sentenced him to five days in jail with a fine of Rs 2,000 for driving his car under the influence of liquor near Palam airport here.
Manjinder, however, had been released on bail till filing of his appeal against the magisterial court order.
The court, however, upheld the magistrate’s decision of disqualifying him from holding driving licence for six months, saying the order is maintained just to keep Manjinder away from repeating such an act in future. (PTI)