MUNNA SINGH Vs. STATE OF U.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition under Article 227 of the Constitution seeks to question an order of Mr. Ehsanullah Khan, the then Additional Sessions Judge, Court No. 3, Shahjahanpur dated 05.09.2017, passed in Criminal Appeal No. 38 of 2017, under Section 6-C of The Essential Commodities Act, 1955(hereinafter referred to as the Act of 1955 ), dismissing the said appeal and affirming an order of Mr. Narendra Kumar Singh, the then Collector, Shahjahanpur, ordering confiscation of the petitioner's tractor along with its trolley, under Section 6-A of the Act of 1955, with an option to pay in lieu of confiscation.

(2.) The facts that give rise to the present petition are these :

(3.) On discovery of the aforesaid facts, a case was registered against Jagdish Singh and Surendra Singh on the basis of a First Information Report(for short FIR ) lodged by Rameshwar Dayal, Supply Inspector, Jalalabad, as Case Crime No. 413 of 2016, under Section 3/7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, Police Station - Paraur, District - Shahjahanpur. Post registration of the crime, the Station House Officer, Police Station - Paraur, moved the Collector under Section 6-A of the Act of 1955, asking that the petitioner's Tractor and the Maruti Van, bearing Registration No. UP 27 AB 6557, be confiscated in favour of the State, on ground that these were involved in carrying an essential commodity i.e. controlled rice, in contravention of control orders issued under the Act of 1955. The aforesaid report to the Collector was made by the Station House Officer, Police Station - Paraur vide Memo No. 9/16 dated 16.12.2016. The Collector, Shahjahanpur issued a notice dated 26.04.2017 to the petitioner, amongst others, requiring him to show cause against the proposed confiscation.