Katkam Sathyanarayana vs The State Of Telangana
2021 Latest Caselaw 169 Tel

          THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K. LAKSHMAN

                  CRIMINAL PETITION No.7271 OF 2020
ORDER:

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

seeking to quash the proceedings in C.C.No.230 of 2018 on

the file of the II Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class at

Jagtial against the petitioners/A-1 to A-7. The offences

alleged against the petitioners are under Sections 272 and

273 of IPC and Section 20(ii) read with Section 7(ii) of the

Cigaretts and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (for short,

COTPA Act).

2. Learned counsel for the petitioners 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

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

1992 Supp. (1) SCC 335 the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and filing

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 272 and 273 of IPC and

Section 20(ii) read with Section 7(ii) of the COTPA Act.

Therefore, the said proceedings in C.C.No.230 of 2018 against

the petitioners 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.230 of

2018 on the file of the II Additional Judicial Magistrate of

First Class at Jagtial, are hereby quashed against the

petitioners/A-1 to A-7.

5. Since the proceedings in C.C.No.230 of 2020 are

quashed, the petitioner is at liberty to file an appropriate

application before the II Additional Judicial Magistrate of First

Class at Jagtial 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: 27.01.2021 Dv