Nadeem Khan vs The State Of Telangana
2021 Latest Caselaw 251 Tel

          THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K. LAKSHMAN

                  CRIMINAL PETITION No. 410 OF 2021
ORDER:

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

seeking to quash the proceedings in C.C.No.286 of 2019 on

the file of the Junior Civil Judge-Cum-Judicial First Class

Magistrate at Adilabad against the petitioner/Accused. The

offences alleged against the petitioner are under Sections 270,

273 of IPC and Section 20 (2) r/w.7(2) of Cigarette & Tobacco

Product Act, 2003.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned

Assistant Public Prosecutor would submit that the subject

matter is squarely covered by a common order in Chidurala

Shyamsubder v. State of Telangana1 rendered by the High

Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the State of Telangana

and the State of Andhra Pradesh, and placed copy of the said

judgment for perusal.

3. In Chidurala Shyamsubder's case (supra), 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 45 and

59(1) of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006,

investigating into the offences along with other offences under

the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and filing

Crl.P.No.3731 of 2018 & batch, decided on 27.08.2018

1992 Supp. (1) SCC 335 charge sheet is grave illegality, as the Food Officer alone is

competent to investigate and to file charge sheet following the

Rules laid down under Sections 41 and 42 of FSS Act,

whereas, in the present case, the Police have registered the

crime for the offences under Sections 270, 273 of IPC and

Section 20 (2) r/w.7(2) of Cigarette & Tobacco Product Act,

2003. Therefore, the said proceedings in C.C.No.286 of 2019

against the petitioner herein are contrary to the principle held

by the learned Single Judge of the High Court in Chidurala

Shyamsubder (supra) and, accordingly, the same are liable to

be quashed.

4. In view of the above submission, the present Criminal

Petition is allowed in terms of the judgment in Chidurala

Shyamsubder (supra), and the proceedings in C.C.No.286 of

2020 on the file of the Junior Civil Judge-Cum-Judicial First

Class Magistrate at Adilabad, are hereby quashed against the

petitioner/Accused.

5. Since the proceedings in C.C.No.286 of 2019 are

quashed, the petitioner is at liberty to file an appropriate

application before the Junior Civil Judge-Cum-Judicial First

Class Magistrate at Adilabad seeking to release of the seized

property and the learned Magistrate shall consider the same

and release the seized property on verification of the

ownership.

6. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed.

Miscellaneous petitions pending, if any, in this Criminal

Petition, shall stand closed.

__________________ K. LAKSHMAN, J Date: 03.02.2021 dv