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‘Half-hearted’ approach to tackle food adulteration irks HC, quashes proceedings against Amritsar firm
Proceedings against the firm were initiated in April 2015 on a complaint from the food safety department for the samples drawn in 2013 of moong masala vadi, which were found misbranded
The Punjab and Haryana high court has quashed proceedings launched under food safety law against an Amritsar firm as it came to light that the quantity of the samples of the food item was more than what was collected from the firm at the time of purchase in 2013.
The high court bench of justice Aman Chaudhary observed that the state initiates the prosecution, by carrying out inspections, but somehow during the process, “the eagerness to bring the guilty to the book seems to fade away”.
The high court quashed proceedings under the food safety law against a firm, Best Price Modern Wholesale, an Amritsar-based entity, dealing in the business of wholesale of products of various companies.
Proceedings against the firm were initiated in April 2015 on a complaint from the food safety department for the samples drawn in 2013 of moong masala vadi, which were found misbranded.
The court questioned when the quantity of the product purchased was only 800 grams and four samples of equal parts were drawn, how a sample of 250 grams was sent to the Referral Laboratory, Ghaziabad. This fact alone makes the process untrustworthy and the possibility of tempering cannot be ruled out, the bench said.
Record of the case had shown that though state claimed only 800 grams were purchased, the receipt showed purchase of 2,000 grams. When manufacturing unit of the product was within the state and allegations were of misbranding, why products at manufacturing unit was not examined, in view of the fact that the accused firm was only a whole seller, it added. Not only this, it also came to fore that the inspector, who withdrew the samples was not even authorised for the same.
As per the record, even as samples were withdrawn on September 23, 2013, and expiry date on the product was of December 2013, the same were sent for re-examination to Ghaziabad in April 2014. This is yet another fact that does not inspire confidence in the version of the state. Therefore, gauging the version of the state from the intrinsic evidence available, the credibility of its case, is shaken, the court further said.
“The prosecution case must be based on evidence which must be unimpeachable and not shrouded by doubt,” the bench recorded. “Allowing the proceedings to continue in the present case would be an abuse of process of law,” it said quashing the proceedings and asking the state to look into aspects, which came to fore in the case in hand. The court also directed the high court registry to send the order to the chief secretaries of Punjab, and Haryana; and the adviser to UT Administration asking them for issuing the necessary guidelines to achieve the purpose and object of food safety law for which it is imperative that the prosecution must be “absolutely flawless” to avert the repercussions of food adulteration on the citizens.
