# MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF DELHI v. R. SAHARI,GENL.MANAGER,DAURALA SUGAR MILLS, DAURALA & ORS ETC

- **Citation:** [1979] 3 S.C.R. 625
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1979-03-23
- **Case number:** Criminal Appeals Nos. 166 & 167 of 1972
- **Bench:** S. MURTAZA FAZAL Au, A. D. KosHAL
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/municipal-corporation-of-delhi-v-r-sahari-genl-manager-daurala-sugar-mills-7655
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

625
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act-Sections 20
&
20-A-Scope of
Toffees sold by a vendor to a Focxl Inspector having been found to b_e
adulterated, prosecution was launched against him. The vendor produced a
warranty in the Trial Court as a result of which he was acquitted by
the
11agistrate.
Th~ Magistrate however directed notice· to the respondents under
A
B
section 20-A for being impleaded and prosecuted on the grounds that the articles
C
manufactured and distributed by
them
were adulterated.
On revision,
the
Session Judge dismissed the same but on further revision to the High Court,
it allowed the revision and set aside the order of the Magistrate.
In the other two Criminal Appeals Nos. 166 & 167 of 1972, the appellants
were i.mpleaded under section 20A before the acquittal of the last seller and
that Order was upheld by the High Court. On the question whether the
magistrate was entitled to implead the distributors or manufacturers under s. 20A
even after acquitting the seller on the ground that he was protected by n
warranty.
Disn1i.ssing the appeals
HELD : 1be opening lines of section 20A clearly contemplate a contingency
where the discretionary jurisdiction under this Act can be exercised only during
the trial 1Jf any offence, i.e. the stage at which the magistrate can exercise his
jurisdiction under this section must be before the trial has concluded and ended
in acquittal or conviction.
A combined reading of section 20A and 20 is
that where a distributor or manufacturer or any other person is implee.ded in
the course of a trial, the obligation to get a fresh sanction for such a person
is dispensed with and the sanction obtained for the last seller in the trial, will
-ensure for the benefit of the prosecution of the other person impl'eaded. There·
fore protectiC'n of section 20 is not available if the parties conCemed are im~
plead'ed aft~r the trial was over.
The special statutory concessioo is given to
the prosecution only if the conditions mentioned in s. 20A are fulfilled and
not otherwise.
[627B-C, F-HJ
V. N. Kamdar v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi [1974]
S.C.R.
157
followed.

## Text

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF DELHI
v.
R. SAHARI,GENL.MANAGER,DAURALA
SUGAR MILLS, DAURALA & ORS ETC.
March 23, 1979
[S. MURTAZA FAZAL Au AND A. D. KosHAL, JJ.]
625
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act-Sections 20
&
20-A-Scope of
Toffees sold by a vendor to a Focxl Inspector having been found to b_e
adulterated, prosecution was launched against him. The vendor produced a
warranty in the Trial Court as a result of which he was acquitted by
the
11agistrate.
Th~ Magistrate however directed notice· to the respondents under
A
B
section 20-A for being impleaded and prosecuted on the grounds that the articles
C
manufactured and distributed by
them
were adulterated.
On revision,
the
Session Judge dismissed the same but on further revision to the High Court,
it allowed the revision and set aside the order of the Magistrate.
In the other two Criminal Appeals Nos. 166 & 167 of 1972, the appellants
were i.mpleaded under section 20A before the acquittal of the last seller and
that Order was upheld by the High Court. On the question whether the
magistrate was entitled to implead the distributors or manufacturers under s. 20A
even after acquitting the seller on the ground that he was protected by n
warranty.
Disn1i.ssing the appeals
HELD : 1be opening lines of section 20A clearly contemplate a contingency
where the discretionary jurisdiction under this Act can be exercised only during
the trial 1Jf any offence, i.e. the stage at which the magistrate can exercise his
jurisdiction under this section must be before the trial has concluded and ended
in acquittal or conviction.
A combined reading of section 20A and 20 is
that where a distributor or manufacturer or any other person is implee.ded in
the course of a trial, the obligation to get a fresh sanction for such a person
is dispensed with and the sanction obtained for the last seller in the trial, will
-ensure for the benefit of the prosecution of the other person impl'eaded. There·
fore protectiC'n of section 20 is not available if the parties conCemed are im~
plead'ed aft~r the trial was over.
The special statutory concessioo is given to
the prosecution only if the conditions mentioned in s. 20A are fulfilled and
not otherwise.
[627B-C, F-HJ
V. N. Kamdar v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi [1974]
S.C.R.
157
followed.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal Nos. 152153 of 1972.
From the Judgment and Order dated 28-10-1970 of Delhi High
Court in Criminal Revision Nos. 426/68 and 5/70.
AND
CRIMINAL APPEAL NOS. 166-167 OF 1972
From the Judglitent and Order dated 28-10-1970 of Delhi High
Court in Criminal Revision Nos. 72-73/68.
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626
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1979] 3 s.c.R.
Soli J. Sorabji, Addi. Sol. Genl. of India, B. P. Maheshwari and
Suresh Sethi for the Appellant in Cr!. A. Nos. 152-153/72.
V. M. Tarkunde, S. C. Malik and B. R. Agarwal<i for RR 4 in Cr!.
A. 152/72.
B
H. K. Pun for RR. 3 in Cr!. A.153 /72.
Mrs. Urmila Sirur for RR. 3 in Cr!. A. No. 152/72.
B. K. Jaggi for the Appellant in Crl. A. No. 166-167/72.
H. S. Marwah and M. N. Shroff for RR. in Cr!. A. Nos. 166-167 /
72.
C
B. P. Maheshwari and Suresh Sethi for the Intervener.
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The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
F AZAL Au, J.
These appeals by certificate arise out of a common Judgment delivered by the High Court of Delhi and will be disposed of by ns by one judgment. In Appeals Nos. 152-153/72, one
Gian Singh sold toffees to the Food Inspector and as the toffees were
found to be adulterated, ·a prosecution was launched against him under
S. 7 /16 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration AC!. Gian Singh, however, productd in course of the trial a warranty given by the distributons and manufacturers as a result of which the Magistrate acquitted accused Gian Singh. After having acquitted
Gian Singh,
t!Je
Magistrate issned notice under S. 20A against the Respondents
for
being iropleaded and prosecution on the gound that the articles manufactured by the distributors were adulterated. The respondents went
up in revision to the Sessions Judge which was dismissed. But on further revision to the High Court the High Court allowed the petition
and set aside the order of the Magistrate impleading the respondei;its.
In the other two appeals i.e. Cr!. Appeals Nos. 166 and 167/1972,
the manufadurers were impleaded under S. 20A before the acquittal'
of the last s~ller and that order was upheld by the High Court and,
hence these appeals before us by the appellants.
The common question of law that arises for consideration in all
these appeals is : whether or not the Mag:strate is entitled to implead
the distributors or manufacturers under S. 20A even after acquitting
the last seller on the gronnd that he is protected by a warranty. In other
words, the question for decision in these appeals turns upon the
interpretation of S. 20A and S. 20 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. S. ~OA runs thus :-
"Where at any time during the trial of any offence under
this Act, alleged to have been committed by any person, nut
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MUNICIPAL CORPORATION V. DAURALA SUGAR MILLS
627
(Fazal Ali, J.)
being the manufacturer, distributor or dealer of any of food,
the Court is satisfied, on the evidence adduced before it, that
such manufacturer, distributor or dealer is also concerned
with the offence, then the Court may, notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section(l) of S. 351 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1898, or in Section 20 proceed against
him as though a prosecution had been instituted against him
under S. 20".
The opening lines of S. 20A clearly contemplate a contingency where
the discretionary jurisdiction under this Act can be exercised
only
during the trial of any offence, that is to say, the stage at which the
Magistrate can exercise his discretion under this Section must be before the trial has concluded and ended in acquittal or
conviction.
S. 20 which precedes S. 20-A runs thus :-
"S. 20 ( 1) No prosecution for an offence under this Act,
not bemg an offence under S. 14 or section 14A, shall be
instituted except by or with written consent of the Central
Government or the State Government or a person authorised
in this behalf, by general or special order, by the
Central
Government or the State Government;
Provided that a prosecution for an offence under this Act
may be instituted by a purchaser referred to in section 12,
if he produces in court a copy of the report of the public
analyst alongwith the complaint.
(2) No court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall try any
offence under this Act.
\
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code o[
Criminal Procedure, 1973, an offence punishable under subsection (IAA) of Section 16 shall be cognizable and nonbailable''.
A combined reading of S. 20A and S. 20 is that where a distributor
or manufacturer or any other person is impleaded in the course of a
trial, the obligation to get a fresh sanction for such person is dispensed
with and the sanction obtained for the last seller in the trial will
ensure for the benefit of the prosecution of the other person iropleaded also and no further sanction is necessary. It is manifest that this
special statutory concession is given to the prosecution only if
the
conditions mentioned in S. 20A are fulfilled and not otherwise.
In
other words, the protection of S. 20 is not available to the pros~cution
if the parties concerned are impleaded after the trial is over. [n such
a cnse, a fresh trial will have to be started by obtaining sanction under
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628
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1979] 3 s.c.R.
S. 20. This matter is no longer .res integra as it has been fully considered by this Court in V. N. Kamdar v. Municipal Corporation,
Delhi(') where this Court observed as follows :-
" .... In order that the manufacturer,
distributor
or
dealer may be impleaded under S. 20A, it is necessary that
there should be a trial for an offence committed under :he
Act by a person and that the manufacturer, distributor or
dealer must be concerned in the offence. When once the
manufacturer, distributor or dealer is impleaded, the mal
proceeds as if he is also an accused in the case. That is made
clear by the closing words of the setcion. As already indicated, no prosecution for an offence under the Act can be
instituted by a Food Inspector without the sanction specified
in S. 20 .... The real purpose of enacting S. 20A is to avoid.
as far as possible, conflicting findings. If, in the prosecution
instituted against the vendor, it is found that the vendor
has sold the article of food in the same state as he purchased
it and that while it was in his possession it was properly
stored, and the vendor is acquitted, it would look rather
ridiculous if in the prosecution against the manufacturer, distributor or dealer, it is found on the evidence _that he did not
give a false warranty, but that the article was not stored properly while it was in the possession of the vendor or that h~
did not sell the article in the same stage as he purcha~ed it.
This being so, the object of the legislature in enacting the
section will be frustrated if a Magistrate were to exercise
his discretion improperly by failing to implead the manufacturer, distributor or dealer under S. 20A in a case where he
should be impleaded. But that is no reason to hold that a
separate prosecution against the manufacturer, distributor or
dealer would be barred, if he is not impleaded under s. 20A,
and tried along with the person who is alleged to have committed an offence under the Act. In order to avoid multiplicity
of proceedings and conflict of findings, it is imperative that
the Magistrate should implead these persons under S. 20A
whenever the conditions laid down in the section are satisfied. As I said, it is a far cry from this to say that if this is
not done, the
manufacturer, distributor or dealer would
get an immunity from a separate prosecution."
H
For these reasons, therefore, and in the facts and circumstances of
the case so far as·Cr. Appeals No. 152-153/1972 are concerned, the
(1) [1974] I S.C.R. 157.
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MUNICIPAL CORPORATION V. DAURALA SUGAR MILLS
629
(Fazal Ali, J.)
Magistrate had no jurisdiction to implead the respondents after havill.g
concluded the trial by the acquittal of the last seller. Similarly, the
Magistrate was fully justified in CrJ. Appeals No. 166 and 167 /72 in
impleading the appellants during the course of the trial as the trial
was still continuing and the case would, therefore, squarely fall under
S. 20A of the Act and no further sanction would be necessary. For
these reasons, therefore, all the appeals are dismissed.
N.K.A.
Appeals dismissed.
A