NON-REPORTABLE IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 688      OF 2010  (@SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION(CRL) No.4200 of 2006)

Nand Lal              … Appellant  Vs.

State of Uttarakhand & Anr. … Respondents

J U D G M E N T

ALTAMAS KABIR, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The  Appellant  was  convicted  of  an  offence  

committed  on  27th November,  1983,  under  Sections  

7(1)  and  2(1)(m)  of  the  Prevention  of  Food  

Adulteration Act, 1954.  The Appellant was running  

a  grocery  shop  near  the  Roadways  Bus  Stand  in  

Roorkee, District Saharanpur (now within Haridwar

District in Uttrakhand).  The Respondent No.2, who  

was a Food Inspector, Nagar Palika, Roorkee, at the  

relevant  point  of  time,  went  to  the  Appellant’s  

shop on the aforesaid date and found the Appellant  

selling and exhibiting mustard oil for sale.  The  

Respondent No.2 purchased 375 grams of mustard oil  

from the Appellant and obtained a receipt from him.  

Subsequently,  on  the  report  of  the  Central  Food  

Laboratory,  Kolkata,  the  Appellant  was  charged  

under Section 7(1) read with Section 2(1)(m) of the  

aforesaid Act and on being convicted by the Special  

Judicial  Magistrate  (Economic  Offences),  Roorkee,  

was sentenced to one year’s rigorous imprisonment  

and a fine of Rs.2,000/-, and in default of payment  

of such fine, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for  

a further period of six months.

3. The Appellant preferred an appeal against the  

said  order  of  the  learned  Magistrate  before  the  

IVth  Additional  District  &  Sessions  Judge,  

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Saharanpur, being Criminal Appeal No.168 of 1986,  

which was dismissed on 7th January, 1988. Aggrieved  

by  the  said  order  of  the  learned  Additional  

District & Sessions Judge, the Appellant filed a  

revision petition before the Allahabad High Court  

in 2004, being Crl. Revision No.195 of 2004. Upon  

bifurcation  of  the  State,  the  said  revision  

petition stood transferred to the Uttranchal High  

Court and was dismissed on 23rd March, 2006.   The  

said order of dismissal of the revision petition  

filed by the Appellant is the subject matter of the  

present Appeal.  

4. Learned  counsel  appearing  for  the  Appellant  

urged that the Appellant had been wrongly convicted  

of  the  offence  alleged  against  him  since  the  

mustard oil in question had been purchased by the  

Appellant from the open market and was not meant  

for human consumption, but to be used for lighting  

lamps  during  Deepawali.  It  may  immediately  be  

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indicated that the said defence of the Appellant  

was not accepted by the Trial Court, the Appellate  

Court  or  the  High  Court.  Learned  counsel  then  

pleaded that since the incident is alleged to have  

taken place about 27 years ago, the sentence of the  

Appellant  may  be  reduced  to  the  period  already  

undergone by him.  In fact, notice was issued on  

29th September, 2006, on the said ground.

5. Having heard learned counsel for the parties  

and having regard to the fact that the incident had  

taken place almost 27 years ago and the Appellant  

is now more than 70 years of age, suffering from  

several medical ailments, we are inclined to accept  

the submission made on behalf of the Appellant for  

reduction of his sentence.  

6. In  that  view  of  the  matter  and  in  the  

circumstances mentioned hereinabove, we allow the  

appeal  to  the  extent  that  while  maintaining  the  

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conviction of the Appellant, we reduce his sentence  

to the period already undergone.

7. Let the Appellant be discharged from his bail  

bonds.

…………………………………………J. (ALTAMAS KABIR)

…………………………………………J. (CYRIAC JOSEPH)

New Delhi Dated: 05.04.2010.  

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