JAGDISH CHANDER KHURANA Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this judgment two Criminal Miscellaneous Petitions Nos. 2586-M of 1996 and 2588-M of 1996 shall be disposed of as the same have arisen out of the same complaint and also involve common question of law and facts.

(2.) M/s. Ajay Fertichem (Bombay) Private Limited, one of the petitioners in Crl. Misc. No. 2586-M of 1996 is the manufacturer and Jagdish Chander Khurana is carrying on business under the name and style of M/s. Jagdish Chander Khurana, who is the dealer of an insecticide known as Monocroptophos 36%. On February 22, 1994, the Insecticides Inspector purchased 3 tins, cash containing 1/2 litre of the aforesaid insecticide, by way of sample from the said dealer. The manufacturing date thereof was May 1993 and the expiry date April 1994. The sample, on analysis, was found to be misbranded. A show-cause notice along with the copy of the Analyst's report were delivered to the dealer as well as to the manufacturer. After obtaining necessary consent. a complaint was filed against the dealer as well as the manufacturer in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ferozepur.

(3.) The dealer as well as the manufacturer have filed the present petitions for quashing the said complaint on the grounds that the complaint has been filed after the expiry of the shelf life of the insecticide in question and they have been deprived of a valuable right conferred upon them by Section 24 of the Insecticides Act, 1968 (for short 'the Act') and that the provisions of Sections 30 and 31 of the Act have not been complied with.