A private car on a public road is public place: Supreme Court

July 2: In a landmark judgement, likely to have far reaching consequences, a bench of the Supreme Court ruled that a private car travelling on a public road can be deemed as a ‘public place’. On Monday, the Supreme Court bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and K.M. Joseph said that while the public may not have access to a private vehicle as a matter of right, but it would definitely have the opportunity to approach the vehicle on a public road.

The judgment was announced in an appeal against a Patna High Court decision. The appellants were charge-sheeted under Section 53(a) of Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016 on the ground that they were found drunk inside a private vehicle. The man was arrested in Nawada in 2016 while travelling from neighbouring Jharkhand to Bihar after being found drunk. Satvinder Singh, filed the plea in the apex court through his lawyer, Rahul Bhandari.

Delivering a verdict on the appeal, the bench said, “We have noticed that definition of ‘place’ as contained in Bihar Excise Act, 1915, Section 2(17) [predecessor of the existing act] is the inclusive definition which specifically includes ‘vehicle’. When word ‘place’ includes vehicle the words ‘public place’ have to be interpreted in the same light.”

The court has essentially overruled a 1999 Kerala High Court judgment which had said that a private car on a public road would still constitute a private space. This verdict of the Supreme Court may even have several implications. The verdict can be interpreted to mean that any activity that is not allowed in a public space, such as smoking, will now not be allowed in a private car on a public road either.