Private vehicle and Public place

Private and Public are mutually exclusive/ contradictory concepts. If it is Private, it cannot be Public and if it is Public, it cannot be Private. If something is considered mutually exclusive then logically it cannot be considered mutually inclusive or one concept to include the other. While it may be so in Logic, Legislative amendments can for certain purposes, consider Public to include Private.

In the first three cases cited below, the courts have strictly gone by the statutes and interpreted Private vehicle as Public places. In the fourth case mentioned below, the courts have again gone strictly by the statutes, however, in this case Private vehicle is considered a distinct concept from a Public place.

In the case of Saurabh Sharma and others Vs Sub Divisional Magistrate and others, the Delhi High Court`s Facemask Ruling, the Hon`ble High Court held that the Private vehicle will be considered as a Public place in view of the Corona virus Pandemic. While the view of the Judge is right that the meaning of the term ‘public place’ changes from context to context, the judgement is more from the philosophy of consequentialism and appreciating the existing regulations under the Epidemic Disease Act and the Disaster Management Act of preventing transmission of coronavirus by extra caution.

Similarly, the difference between Private and Public is done away with in the case of Rajendra Pilai and others Vs State of Kerala where drinking in a private car at a public place was held to be an offence because private vehicles parked at public place were held to be public places as per an amendment. In still another case, Satvinder Singh Salluja Vs State of Bihar, private vehicle was considered public place based on the definition of Public place. A Public place is a place where public can have access to the private vehicle and could approach the vehicle. Further, as per the prevailing laws in regard to the said case, the Bihar Excise Amendment Act, 2016 omitted the term ‘public conveyance’ thereby doing away with the distinction between Private and Public. The said cases so far highlight the need felt by the Legislature and the Executive to club two contradictory terms for the sake of administrative convenience.

In Boota Singh Vs State of Haryana, the vehicle was not a public conveyance under sec 43 of the NDPS Act nor the search, seizure and recovery procedure was followed properly under sec 42 of the NDPS Act and hence the accused were acquitted. In this case, it was not argued that anybody could approach the Private vehicle and therefore it was a Public place. Hence the difference between Private and Public was kept intact. [1]

[1] https://www.livelaw.in/know-the-law/is-your-private-vehicle-a-public-place-law-has-different-answers-172717