The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ruled that talking on the mobile phone while driving is not an offence, unless it can be established that the driver had endangered public safety by doing so.

The police had filed a case under the Kerala Police Act and the Motor Vehicles Act against MJ Santhosh, a resident of Kakkanad in Ernakulam district, for speaking on the phone while driving, The News Minute reported. Santhosh appealed in the High Court against the police action.

The High Court ruled that there were no provisions in the existing laws to book a person for speaking on phone while at the wheel.

“The court can’t rule that the person who speaks on a mobile phone while driving causes danger to the public,” the division bench said, according to the Hindustan Times. “The Assembly should pass an amendment to include these provisions in the Police Act to make it an offence. If the police had registered such cases in the state, those concerned can approach the respective magistrate courts to quash their cases.”