Sajidullah Khan vs The State Of Telangana

           HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K. LAKSHMAN

             CRIMINAL PETITION No.2223 OF 2021
                      With I.A. No.2 OF 2021

COMMON ORDER:

      This petition is filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C., seeking to

quash the proceedings in Cr.No.39 of 2021 on the file of Adilabad I

Town Police Station, Adilabad District against the petitioner/ accused

and for a consequential direction as to the Police to return the seized

property. The petitioner is accused in the above said Crime. The

offences alleged against them are under Sections 270 and 273 of IPC.

Whereas, the petitioners also filed I.A.No.2 of 2021 for return of

material, which were seized in the above said crime.


      2.    Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, and learned

Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the entire material available on

record.


      3.     The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that

the Sub-Inspector of Police is not having power to register a case in

Cr.No.39 of 2021 on the file of Adilabad I Town Police Station,

Adilabad District for the offences under Sections 270 and 273 of IPC.

He would further submit that the allegations against the petitioner are

that he is selling the tobacco products to the customers illegally in

order to gain wrongful profits. Thus, the accused has committed the
                                               2



aforesaid offences. The learned counsel by referring to the provisions

of COTP Act, including 20 (2), would submit that the allegations

made in the charge sheet do not attract the ingredients of the aforesaid

provisions and, therefore, the aforesaid offences alleged against the

petitioners are liable to be quashed. In support of the same, he has

placed reliance on the judgment in Chidurala Shyamsubder v. State

of Telangana1 rendered by the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad

for the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Whereas, the learned

Public Prosecutor has tried to distinguish the principle laid down in

the said judgment to the facts of the present case.


        4. Perused the judgment in Chidurala Shyamsubder (supra),

wherein a learned Single Judge of the High Court following the

guidelines laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in State of

Haryana v. Bhajan Lal2, held that the police are incompetent to take

cognizance of the offences punishable under Sections 54 and 59 (1) of

the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (for short 'FSS Act'),

investigating into the offences along with other offences under the

provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. It was further held that

filing charge sheet is a grave illegality, as the Food Safety Officer

alone is competent to investigate and to file charge sheet following the

Rules laid down under Sections - 41 and 42 of FSS Act. In the


1
 . Crl.P. No.3731 of 2018 & batch, decided on 27.08.2018
2
 . 1992 Supp. (1) SCC 335
                                    3



present case, the police have registered the crime for the offences

under Sections - Sections 270 and 273 of IPC. Therefore, the said

proceedings in Cr.No.39 of 2021 against the petitioners herein are

contrary to the principle laid down in Chidurala Shyamsubder

(Supra) and, therefore, the same are liable to be quashed.

      5.   In view of the above discussion, the present Criminal

Petition is allowed, and the proceedings in Cr.No.39 of 2021 on the

file of Adilabad I Town Police Station, Adilabad District, are hereby

quashed against the petitioner- accused.

      6.     It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner

that the seized property is in the custody of Police, Adilabad I Town

Police Station, and sought direction to the Station House Officer,

Adilabad I Town Police Station, Adilabad District, to return the seized

property to the petitioner.


      7. I.A. No.2 of 2020 is filed by the petitioner for return of

material, which were seized in the above said crime.         Since the

proceedings in the aforesaid case are quashed against the

petitioner/Accused in Cr.No.39 of 2021, the Station House Officer,

Adilabad I Town Police Station, is directed to return the seized

property on proper identification and verification of ownership of

seized property under due acknowledgment. Accordingly, I.A. No.2

of 2020 is closed.
                                     4




      As a sequel, miscellaneous petitions pending, if any, in the

criminal petition, shall stand closed.


                                             __________________
                                               K. LAKSHMAN, J
22.03.2021

pgs