Indian Court Jails Three Men for Driving While Using a Mobile Phone

A court in Mumbai, India has jailed three men for driving while using a mobile phone. This is believed to be the first time that an Indian court has imposed a jail sentence on people for breaking local regulations about using a mobile phone without a hands-free kit while driving.

"The three persons - Akhilesh Chourasia, Babu Sheikh and Arvind Rajpurohit - were caught while they were using their mobile phones. Besides Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act (rash driving), they were also booked under Section 250-A of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules (restriction on use of mobile phone)," deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Harish Baijal told local media.

"By and large, in such cases, people are let off with a fine. But we insisted on simple imprisonment and the court agreed. One of the three (Chourasia) was sent to jail till the rising of the court and two others were given a day's simple imprisonment," Baijal said.

The three also had their driving licenses suspended for six months and were fined Rs 1,500 (US$38) each.

Posted to the site on 7th October 2007