K VISWANATHAN NAIR Vs. DRUGS INSPECTOR ALLEPPEY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant is a licensed retailer carrying on retail business in pharmaceutical drugs and medicinal formulations in his medical shop "M/s Ajaya Medicals" at Pattanakkad. The Special Court (for trial of offences under Essential Commodities Act) convicted him for the offence under S.7(1)(a)(ii) of the Essential Commodities Act (for short 'the Act') read with Clause.21 and 22 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Oder 1979 (for short 'the Order') and sentenced him to imprisonment and fine.

(2.) The case was instituted on a complaint filed by a Drugs Inspector against the appellant and his Pharmacist for selling a formulation called "Sodium Salicylate" for a price much in excess of the maximum retail price permitted by the Order. The Trial Court acquitted the Pharmacist but convicted the appellant and sentenced him as aforesaid.

(3.) A consumer (P. W. 2) purchased sixty grams of Sodium Salicylate from the shop of the appellant on 7-6-1986 for a price of Rs. 19.20. P.W.2 had reasons to believe that the price realised from him was much more than the maximum retail price fixed for the said formulation. Hence he sent a petition to the Drugs Inspector complaining of the exorbitant price collected from him. The Drugs Inspector inspected the appellant's shop and traced out the carbon copy of the bill issued to the consumer. The complaint was filed by the Drugs Inspector on the strength of Ext. P9 bill which the consumer had sent along with the petition. During trial the appellant admitted that he is the licensed retail dealer of M/s. Ajaya Medicals and that Ext. P9 was issued from his shop. He did not dispute the evidence which shows that the maximum retail price of sixty grams of Sodium Salicylate during the relevant period was Rs. 9.06. His contention was that he was absent in his shop when the formulation was sold to P. W. 2 and that he came to know later that by a mistake excess price was collected from P. W. 2. According to him, the mistake was committed by his son who issued the bill, due to some inadvertence and that he returned the excess amount to P. W. 2 by money order, who refused to receive it since he had already sent a petition to the Drugs Inspector.