SARUPA Vs. STATE AND M.C.D.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, a milk vendor, was convicted of an offence under Sec. 7/16 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) by a Metropolitan Magistrate holding that he was guilty of selling adulterated and misbranded milk without licence and he was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 6 months and a line of Rs. 1500.00, in default of payment of fine, he was awarded further rigorous imprisonment for six months. He was also convicted for selling milk without licence and sentenced to a fine of Rs, 500.00, in default he was awarded rigorous imprisonment for three months. An appeal preferred by him in the Court of Sessions proved fruitless and was dismissed on 10th Jan., 1978 by an additional Sessions Judge. Not feeling satisfied with the findings of the Court below, he has come up in this revision.

(2.) The prosecution case, succinctly, is that on 4th July, 1975, at about 5.30 A.M., the petitioner was intercepted by Food Inspector Udey Singh Debas (PW 2) while he was carrying cow's milk on a bicycle in two cans for sale near Patparganj, Gurunanakpura, Gandhi Nagar. So after disclosing his identity to the petitioner, the Food Inspector lifted a sample of cow's milk, as per provisions contained in the Act and the Rules made thereunder. Since no member of the public was willing to associate himself in the sample taking proceedings, he joined another Food inspector viz. R.S. Awasthi to witness the same. A counter part of the sample was sent to the Public Analyst and on receipt of the report Ex. PE revealing that the milk was misbranded as the same was skimmed milk but had been declared as cow's milk, prosecution wa3 launched against the petitioner by Assistant Municipal Prosecutor of the respondent Corporation.

(3.) At the trial; U.S. Dabas, testified to the factum of sample taking and, inter alia, asserted that an indication to the effect that the milk contained in the cans was cow's milk, was inscribed on the containers and the petitioner had about 10 litres of cow's milk with him at the time of sample taking, although the capacity of the can was about 15 litres. His testimony was duly corroborated by other Food Inspector R.S. Awasthi.