RANGLAL MEDICAL STORES AND OTHERS Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE applicants were prosecuted under section 14 read with Rule 12-A and Section 7(v) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. The Magistrate held that the sanc­tion for the prosecution for the alleged offence was not competent. He accord­ingly, discharged the accused. The State went up in revision. The finding of the Magistrate was reversed, the order was set aside and the case was remanded to the Magistrate for fresh trial. The principal question involved is whether the sanction for the prosecu­tion was valid. The sanction was in fact granted by the District Medical Officer of Health, Etawah, in the follow­ing words : "Prosecution is sanctioned if I am empowered to sanction it for Muncjpal Board areas." The shop of the applicants where they sold the impugned quantity of Glucose was situate within Municipal areas of Etawah. The Municipal Board, Etawah, had appointed a Municipal Medical Officer. The Inspector had ap­proached the Municipal Medical Officer for granting sanction for the prosecution of the applicants, but that Officer refused to do so. Thereupon, the Ins­pector, according to his own statement, approached the District Medical Officer who granted the sanction as mentioned above. Section 20 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act provides that no pro­secution for an offence under this Act shall be instituted except by or with the written consent of the Central Govern­ment or the State Government or a local authority or a person authorised in this behalf by general or special order by them. The State Government issued a notification dated 16th December, -1965. By it the following officers were authoris­ed to institute or to give written consent for instituting prosecution under the Act, in territories mentioned against each :

(2.) ALL District Medical Officers of Healh in U.P. The Municipal areas within their jurisdiction. By a Government order dated July 29, 1969, the Government appointed all the District Medical Officers to be ex-officio Medical Officers in those Municipalites in which no Medical Officer of Health had been posted. Reading the two notifications it is apparent that pri­marily the Municipal Medical Officers of Health in Uttar Pradesh had jurisdiction to accord sanction for the prosecution for offences committed in their areas. If in a particular Municipal Board there is no Municipal Medical Officer of Health or in cases where there are no such Officer actually posted and working, the jurisdic­tion has also been conferred on District Medical Officer of Health in respect of Municipal areas. This, to my mind, is the safest way to harmonise both the provi­sions and to avoid overlapping and uncer­tainty.

(3.) ACCORDINGLY , the revision succeeds and is allowed. The order of the learn­ed Sessions Judge is set aside and that of the Magistrate is restored.