Court directs drunk driver to work his sin off at temple

A 26-year-old man, who was told by a Delhi court to perform community service at a temple regularly as a punishment for drunk driving, has been told to continue doing the task for two more months.

The court gave the order after it found that he has not been following the earlier court order passed on January 1. Now, he will have to perform the community service every Thursday.

An Additional Sessions Judge told Ramesh to give six hours of service at Sai Baba Mandir. The judge also told him to submit a certificate from the temple’s administration upon completion of two months to prove that he had successfully completed the task.

“Ramesh will give his service at Sai Baba Mandir on Najafgarh Road every Thursday, starting this week, between 4 pm and 10 pm for two months,” the court said.

The court order came after a complaint from the temple’s managing committee that Ramesh was “tardy”.

Ramesh’s counsel said he could not reach the temple on time on several occasions due to some urgent work.

The counsel said Ramesh often reached the temple at 4.30 pm, but the temple administration did not record his attendance.

“In view of the submissions made by the appellant as well as his counsel, one more opportunity is granted to comply with the directions contained in the judgment dated January 1, 2012,” the court said.

The sessions court had asked Ramesh to serve at the temple, setting aside a magisterial court’s order on November 2011, which had sentenced him to seven days in jail along with a fine of Rs 2,000 for riding a motorcycle in an inebriated state.