J K SYNTHETICS LTD Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a writ petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) THE petitioner is a public limited company and carries on the business of manufacture of synthetic staple fibres, namely, nylon staple fibre and polyester staple fibre. In the process of manufacture of synthetic staple fibre, a by product, namely, methyl alcohol is obtained in a crude form. THEy pure form of methyl alcohol is known as methanol.

(3.) IN Taylor's Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence, by Keith Simpson, Volume II, 12th edition, at page 412, it is mentioned about methyl alcohol as under, - "pure methyl alcohol, made synthetically or by refining wood alcohol, is a colourless mobile fluid with an odour similar to ethyl alcohol, and has a burning taste. It is used for denaturing ethyl alcohol, as a solvent for fats and varnishes, for cinematograph films, for the production of formalin and other chemicals, and in many other trade processes. It has been used considerably in the adulteration of alcoholic beverages. The drinking of pure methyl alcohol is not common, though cases occasionally occur among workers in chemical factories. On the other hand many deaths have resulted from the drinking of wood alcohol, drunk during prohibition and used as an antifreeze in automobiles, especially in the United States. IN Belgium, after the 1945 war, quantities of army antifreeze were sold to civilians as potable spirits and many died. The fatal dose is somewhere between 60 and 250 ml (2 to 8 oz.) and the m. a. c. in air about 200 p. p. m. " The learned author has then described the symptoms on intake of methyl alcohol in the following words.- "the symptoms, sometimes delayed several hours, consist of headache and nausea, vomiting and pais or severe cramps in the abdomen. There is a marked muscular weakness and depressed cardiac action. There may be dyspnoea and cyanosis. The effect on the central nervous sys tern is more intense and persistent than with ethyl alcohol. There may be delirium and coma, which may last for 2 or 3 days. There is a toxic effect on the liver and kidneys and on highly specialized nerve elements and fairly sudden failure of vision or complete blindness is a common sequel. "