Police cannot probe food safety complaints, says high court

High court says in cases of misbranded or substandard food articles, criminal cases cannot be registered by police

The Punjab and Haryana high court has ruled that in cases of misbranded and substandard food articles, criminal cases can’t be registered by police.

The high court bench of justice Jasjit Singh Bedi quashed a criminal case registered in Patiala, wherein the local police had invoked the Indian Penal Code (IPC), slapping sections pertaining to adulteration of food, sale of item unfit for consumption and criminal conspiracy.

Food safety authorities had raided a local manufacturing unit in August 2018, and seized various items, including 7,000 litres of milk, 19 quintals of cheese, 24 quintals of desi ghee, 40 kg butter, 367 bags of dry milk, cans of acid, 300 packets of washing powder. On lab examination, all items were found to be “misbranded or substandard”.

Subsequently, a fine of ₹4.75 lakh was imposed on the petitioner, Anil Kumar Singla. However, by virtue of criminal case registered by police, a challan was presented against him and others in a local court. It was the challan and registration of FIR by police that Singla challenged in high court in 2019.

Source : The Hindustan Times Nov 5th 2023