The court points out that there are no provisions in the Police Act which said using a phone while driving is offensive
Mobile phones are the most used thing in our daily life as we can’t keep using them because of our social life and busy schedule. But they are very dangerous in certain situations as a person who is driving a car and using mobile phone simultaneously can loose concentration and result in an accident.
Because of this that most of the manufacturers has given Bluetooth connectivity in cars which helps the user to connect the phone to car audio system to take call. Now a day modern cars also get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay which help the driver to reply to messages and use various other functions using the voice control system.
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We know that Police will surely fine you if you are caught using mobile phone driving. This same thing happened for Kochi resident MJ Santhosh who was booked by Police for using mobile phone. He took the matter to court and on Wednesday the Kerala high court ruled in his favour. The Kerala high court division bench said talking on your phone while driving is not illegal unless it is established that your actions are a danger to public safety.
Santhosh was booked under two sections – one is section 118 (E) of Kerala Police Act and the second one is Section 184 of the Motor Vehicle Act. But the court points out that there are no provisions in the Police Act which said using a phone while driving is offensive and the current law should be amended and passed by the assembly.
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The Motor Vehicle Act of Section 184 says that “Whoever drives a motor vehicle at a speed or in a manner which is dangerous to the public, having regard to all the circumstances of the case including the nature, condition and use of the place where the vehicle is driven and the amount of traffic which actually is at the time or which might reasonably be expected to be in the place, shall be punishable…”
There is no where in law which states that using mobile phones is punishable and if a person does use mobile phone could not be said that he is danger to other people. This decision by Kerala high court is significant and other courts in the country will take notice of this. But we won’t recommend anyone from using mobile phone while driving and use the features in the car or just stop the car on the side and use phone which is good for you and others on the road.