A man held guilty of driving his motorbike in a drunken state has been ordered by a Delhi court to perform community service at a temple here once a week for two months.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Virender Bhat asked South West Delhi resident Raj Kumar to do the service, setting aside the five-day jail term given to him by a magisterial court.

"Raj Kumar is a married person having three minor children and aged parents in his family to look after. Imprisonment at this stage would put an indelible blot on his future career and seriously affect the upbringing of his three children," the ASJ said.

The court released 42-year-old Raj Kumar on probation and asked him to perform social service at Mata Katyayni Devi Mandir at Chhattarpur here every Friday for two months.

"The sentencing policy followed in India is based upon reformative theory and not on retributive theory. The purpose of sentence is and should be to reform a criminal so as to convert him into a law-abiding citizen....

"While dealing with petty cases such as the present one, wherever it is felt necessary, the principle contained in almost all the religious scriptures that 'forgiveness is the best punishment' should be invoked," the court said.

The court's order came on Kumar's plea challenging the magistrate's August 24 order sentencing him to five days in jail for driving his motorcycle in an inebriated state early this year in South West Delhi area. The trial court had also imposed a fine of Rs 3,500 on him.

Seeking the relief, Kumar's counsel had also told the court that he has learnt a lesson from his prosecution and has vowed not to repeat his mistake again.