New Delhi:
It could well be a 'Hall of Shame' on the website of Delhi Police if its plans to make public the names of those jailed for drunken driving in the national capital come through.
The move comes in the backdrop of its plan to clear the Delhi roads of traffic violators and educate people against the dangers of drunken driving.
"We are mulling the possibility of putting the names of those convicted for drunken driving on our website. We don't think that there could be any problem as it is a list of people who were jailed by courts," Satyendra Garg, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), told PTI.
Last year, over 10,800 people were fined for driving under the influence of alcohol. Out of this, driving licences of 580 were suspended while 710 people were imprisoned upto ten days.
In 2008, a total of 7,579 people were prosecuted for drunken driving while the next year saw a steep increase in challans on this front to 12,109. The figure in 2007 for the same offence was 3,748.
Police attributed this rise to its aggressive challan drive.
Delhi Police had in August moved a Delhi Court seeking its permission for allowing imprisonment in some cases of drunk driving.
Police attribute 40 per cent of the road accidents in the Capital to drunken driving. Over 1,900 fatal accidents have been reported in the capital this year.
On the New Year eve, police challaned 388 revellers for drunken driving.
"Those 388 prosecuted for drunken driving were instructed to appear before courts to face the penalty of possible jail term apart from suspension of driving licence and fines," he said.
Anybody found driving or attempting to drive a vehicle above the permissible limit of alcohol in the blood (30mg/100 ml) faces imprisonment upto six months or a Rs 2,000 fine or both.
If it is a subsequent challan, the offenders may end up getting a jail term of upto two years or a fine of Rs 3,000 or both.