STATE OF HARYANA Vs. LAL CHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE respondent was tried for the offence under Section 7 read with Section 16(1)(a)(i) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 as he was allegedly found in possession of 20 Kgs. of adulterated cow's milk on 28.8.1988. The learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Narnaul vide judgment dead January 27, 1994 held the respondent guilty for the said offence and convicted him thereunder and also sentenced him to undergo R.I. for 6 months and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/-. The appeal filed by the accused was accepted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Narnaul vide judgment dated January 11, 1999 and the accused was acquitted of the charge framed against him. The State of Haryana has filed the present petition for the grant of leave to appeal.

(2.) WE have heard Mr. Pankaj Bhardwaj, learned counsel for the petitioner and have gone through the record.

(3.) AFTER hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner and perusing the record, we find no infirmity in the judgment of acquittal passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge. As referred to above, the sample was taken as far back as on August 28, 1988. More than 11 years have passed since then. No useful purpose would be served by remanding the case to the learned Magistrate for decision afresh after recording the statement of the accused under Section 313 Cr.P.C. and putting the contents of the report of the Public Analyst to the accused in the said case.