ITC LIMITED Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted in both the SLPs.

(2.) The appellant, ITC Limited, is engaged in the business of stationery items including Exercise Books / Notebooks, Pens, Pencils, etc. under its brand 'Classmate'. On 2/7/2020, Respondent No.2 acting under Sec. 15 of the Legal metrology Act, 2009[For short,"the 2009 Act"] conducted an inspection at the appellant's premises situated at Survey No.9/4, A, B 9/2, 9/8 Arjunabettahalli Village, Madurai Road, Nelamangala Taluk, Bengaluru, and seized 7600 CFCs / packages of 'Classmate' exercise books for the alleged violation of Rule 24(a) of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011[For short,"the 2011 Rules"] which is punishable under Sec. 36(1) of the 2009 Act. Pursuant to the seizure, a seizure notice and a compounding notice both dtd. 2/7/2020 were issued to the appellant. Alleging that no search warrant was obtained prior to the entry and that the provisions of Ss. 100(4) and 165 of the Criminal Procedure Code[For short,"Cr.P.C"] were not complied with, the appellant preferred Writ Petition No.8954 of 2020 (GM-RES) under Article 226 of the Constitution of India before the High Court of Karnataka,[For short,"the High Court"] seeking to quash the said notices and for a direction to Respondent No.2 to release the seized goods.

(3.) After hearing both parties, the learned Single Judge of the High Court, by order dtd. 4/9/2020, allowed the writ petition, quashed the notices issued by Respondent No.2, and directed the release of the seized goods, holding that the search and seizure were conducted without jurisdiction. Aggrieved by the said order, the respondents filed Writ Appeal No.572 of 2020 (GM-RES).