G K MAZUMDAR FOOD INSPECTOR Vs. MOHMAD KASAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A complaint was filed under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act which was not signed by the Food Inspector. Summons was issued to the accused. When the accused appeared he contended that the complaint was not legal as it was not signed by the complainant. The Food Inspector gave an application to withdraw the complaint on the ground that it did not bear his signature and also requested for permission to file a fresh complaint. The learned Magistrate passed an order permitting withdrawal of the complaint with a further permission to file a fresh complaint and acquitted the accused under sec. 248 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The said sec. 248 reads as under:-

(2.) If a complaint is withdrawn whatever be the reasons for doing so the section comes into operation in a summons case. Sec. 4(1)(h) of Cr. Pro. Code defines complaint as follows:-

(3.) This was not a case where the complaint had been dismissed for want of a proper sanction. It is not necessary for the complainant to sign the complaint. It is true that under sec. 20 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act which reads as under:-