P.C. Borooah, J. - (1.) On the basis of a complaint filed on September 24, 1975 by the opposite party No. 2, a Food Inspector of the Corporation of Calcutta, the petitioners along with Messrs. Chungwah Restaurant of No. 13/A, Chittaranjan Avenue are being prosecuted in the court of the Senior Municipal Magistrate, Calcutta in Case No. 232-D of 1975 under section 16(1) (a) of the prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 as amended by Act XLIX of 1964 read with section 7 of the said Act on the allegations that they had stored/exposed for sale and/or used "Hycinth's Ground white Peeper (Compound) with fried rice powder" for the purpose of manufacturing/preparing different articles of food and which was adulterated and misbranded as the sample seized by the said opposite party on August 16, 1965 was found on analysis by the Public Analyst to contain no rice powder but wheat powder.
(2.) After the learned Magistrate had taken cognizance an objection was raised by the prosecution that as the alleged offence was committed after the Prevention of Adulteration of Food, Drugs and Cosmetics (West Bengal Amendment) Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the State Act) had come into force prescribing upto life imprisonment for the offence, the case should be committed to the Court of Sessions. The learned Magistrate by an order dated June 16, 1977 over-ruled the objection but subsequently on December 27, 1977 on his attention being drawn to a decision of A. K. Sen, J : in the case of Bansidhari Manna v. State of West Bengal (1977 C.H.N. 745, in spite of the objection raised on behalf of the petitioners that he cannot reverse his earlier order, the learned Magistrate held that the case was exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions. This order has been impugned in this Rule.
(3.) The question which arises for determination in this case and the other cases which have been listed for analogous hearing is whether a prosecution launched under the provisions of the Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (hereinafter the Principal Act) after the State Act had become applicable to West Bengal after the assent of the President was first published in the Calcutta Gazette Extraordinary on April 29, 1974 and which had not been concluded, would continue to be governed by the principal Act as amended by he State Act after the prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment) Act, 1976 (hereinafter the Central Amendment Act) came into force on April 1, 1976 ?;