V.N.VARMA,J. - (1.) THIS reference has arisen out of a case under Section 7/16 of the Prevention of Food Adul­teration Act.
(2.) THE applicant in this case is a shopkeeper and sells all sorts of things including lemon drops. The Food Ins­pector purchased by way of sample 500 grams of lemon drops from him. These lemon drops were sent to the Public Analyst for analysis and report and the Public Analyst reported that the sample was coloured with certain unpermitted coal-tar dyes. The applicant was the sent up to stand his trial under Section 7/16 of the Prevention of Food Adul­teration Act. The trial court found him guilty and sentenced him to a fine of Rs. 200/-. A revision was filed against the order of the trial court in the court of Sessions Judge, Allahabad and the Sessions Judge has made this reference with the recommendation that the fine of Rs. 200/- imposed by the trial court was against law and the accused should be awarded the mini­mum sentence of six months' imprison­ment and a fine of Rs. 1,000/-. Learned counsel for the applicant did not assail the correctness of the reference made by the Sessions Judge. All that he urged before me was that seeing the facts of the case it was not a case in which the accused should be sentenced to an imprisonment of six months and a fine of Rs. 1000/-. I think there is some force in this contention of the learned counsel. The accused is a petty shop-keeper. He himself had not manufactured the lemon drops found adulterated. He had purchased them from somewhere and had stored them at his shop for being sold. Keeping this in view, as also the fact that it is his first offence. I think the ends of justice would be met if the applicant is given the benefit of the provisions of the First Offenders' Pro­bation Act. The provisions of the First Offenders' Probation Act apply to cases under the Prevention of Food Adultera­tion Act as held by the Supreme Court in Isher Dass v. State of Punjab((1972) ACC 62 (SC).).
(3.) ACCORDINGLY , while accepting the reference to the extent that it was not legally open to the trial court to impose a fine of Rs. 200/- only on the accused in this case I give the applicant the benefit of the provisions of Section 4 of the First Offenders' Probation Act and hereby order that he shall be en­larged on his entering into a personal bond with two sureties each in the sum of Rs. 1000/- to be of good behaviour for a period of two years and to appear before the court for receiving sentence if and when called. He is allowed two months time from the date the record of this case reaches the lower court to carry out this order failing which he shall undergo six months' S.I. and a fine of Rs. 1000/- as ordered by the Sessions Judge. The reference is decided accordingly. Reference accepted.;