Page 173 - The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988

SECTION 204 THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988 159

(4) If a person, required by a police officer under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2)
to provide a specimen of breath for a breath test, refuses or fails to do so and the police
officer has reasonable cause to suspect him of having alcohol in his blood the police
officer may arrest him without warrant except while he is at a hospital as an indoor
patient.
(5) A person arrested under this section shall while at a police station, be given an
opportunity to provide a specimen of breath for a breath test there.
(6) The result of a breath test made in pursuance of the provisions of this section
shall be admissible in evidence.
Explanation : For the purposes of this section “breath test”, means a test for the
purpose of obtaining an indication of the presence of alcohol in a person’s blood carried
out on one or more specimens of breath provided by that person, by means of a device
of a type approved by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette,
for the purpose of such a test.
COMMENT
Under section 203(3) of the Act, arrest without warrant is permitted only if the breath test
indicates the presence of alcohol in that person’s blood and except when such person is at a
hospital as an indoor patient.—Mehaboob v. State 2011 (103) AIC 650 (Kerala H.C.)
204. Laboratory test
(1) A person who has been arrested under section 203 may while at a police station
be required by a police officer to provide to such registered medical practitioner as may
be produced by such police officer, a specimen of his blood for a laboratory test if—
(a) it appears to the police officer that the device, by means of which breath
test was taken in relation to such person, indicates the presence of alcohol
in the blood of such person, or
(b) such person when given the opportunity to submit to a breath test, has
refused, omitted or failed to do so:
PROVIDED that where the person required to provide such specimen is a female
and the registered medical practitioner produced by a such police officer is a male
medical practitioner, the specimen shall be taken only in the presence of a female,
whether a medical practitioner or not.
(2) A person while at a hospital as an indoor patient may be required by a police
officer to provide at the hospital a specimen of his blood for a laboratory test—
(a) if it appears to the police officer that the device by means of which test is
carried out in relation to the breath of such person indicates the presence
of alcohol in the blood of such person, or
(b) if the person having been required whether at the hospital or elsewhere, to
provide a specimen of breath for a breath test, has refused, omitted or
failed to do so and a police officer has reasonable cause to suspect him of
having alcohol in his blood:
PROVIDED that a person shall not be required to provide a specimen of his blood
for a laboratory test under this sub-section if the registered medical practitioner in
immediate charge of his case is not first notified of the proposal to make the requirement