Is breath analyser is the single remedy to find out a person is under the influence of alcohol?

A drive launched in Kerala from 24^th February by the Railway Police Force and Kerala Police against people  under the influence of alcohol in trains and at railway platforms. Now the big question is whether the law will be implemented without abuse or not.

It was reported that the Railway Police Force in Kerala and Kerala Police were fully geared to hunt down those under the influence of alcohol and travelling in trains. People coming to railway platforms would also be screened, a police official said.

An official from Railway Police Force said: 'We are now equipped with breath analysers and if anyone is found under the influence of alcohol, he could get a six month jail term,' reported IANS.

What the Indian Railways Act Part II, Section 145 describes?

145. Drunkenness or nuisance:  If any person in any railway carriage or upon any part of a railway

(a)                is in a state of intoxication

(b)               commits any nuisance or act of indecency or uses abusive or obscene language; or

(c)                wilfully or without excuse interferes with any amenity provided by the railway administration so as to affect the comfortable travel of any passenger, he may be removed from the railway by any railway servant and shall, in addition to the forfeiture of his pass or ticket, be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months and with a fine which may extend to five hundred rupees;

provided that in the absence of special and adequate reasons to the contrary to be mentioned in the judgment of the court, such punishment shall not be less than

(a)                a fine of one hundred rupees in the case of conviction for the first offence; and

(b)               imprisonment of one month and a fine of two hundred and fifty rupees, in the case of conviction for second or subsequent offence.

Ironically Kerala stands first in per capita consumption of liquor at 8.3 litres. Over the years, the age at which youngsters begin to consume liquor has come down in Kerala. In 1986 the age was 19, by 1990 it had dropped to 17, and by 1994 the age was 14.

It’s a common belief amongst the people of Kerala that quite a few railway employees and police personnel in Kerala consume alcohol heavily barring the technicality of on duty or off duty.

In my opinion, the new sensation of the so called implementation of the railway act exclusively in Kerala state will face its own failures and abuses. The law and officials are for maintaining law and order and keeping the system in place for the sake of people. It is not for settling personal scores, dealing with petty egos or establishing the supremacy of officials. There is an inevitable unseen danger prevails of generating employees’ militancy from the associations of railway police, Kerala police and railway personnel and clashes between general public, political parties and other stake holders.