Alco meter / blood test is the conclusive test
The conclusive test to prove whether a person consumed alcohol or not is the Alco Meter Test or Blood Analysis Test. The evidence of smell of alcohol present in breath is not a conclusive proof, says Kerala High Court in Biju @ Gopi v State.
It was in a Writ Petition filed under Section 482 Criminal Procedures Code (CrPC) to quash a First Information Report (FIR) and incidental proceedings in a crime registered at Kuttippuram police station, the High Court arrived at such a decision. The offence alleged in the crime was that the writ petitioner committed the offence of consuming liquor in public place which is an offence under section 15C of Kerala Abkari Act.
Earlier judgement the court relied on
In arriving at the decision, the High Court relied on the judgements in Mukesh v State of Kerala [ 2018 (3) KLT 386]. In the judgement the court held that a prosecution under Section 15C of the Act, where the prosecution relies on the evidence of the Officials regarding taste and odour, and where there is no Alco Meter test result, the proper procedure must be to collect the blood sample of the accused at a hospital, and get the percentage of alcohol in the blood detected by laboratory test.
