Surjnder Singh, J. - (1.) This is a petition under section 482, Code of Criminal Procedure, filed by Nasib Chand and another with a prayer for quashing of the order passed by the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ludhiana on Jan. 18, 1982, as per which the petitioners in their capacity as Distributor have been summoned as accused in a case under section 20-A of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.
(2.) The Food Inspector took a sample of Meat Masala from one Om Parkash who was running a shop at Gill Road, Ludhiana. The article was in packets. The sample was divided into three parts and each one of them was again put into packets and sealed. The analysis of the sample revealed that the recovered article did not conform to the prescribed standards in so far as the percentage of crude fibre is concerned. A complaint was, therefore, launched before the trial Court who summoned the two petitioners.
(3.) Apart from the contention raised in the present petition that the petitioners are based at Delhi and they had never sold the recovered article to Om Parkash of Ludhiana, a vital question has been raised that the taking of the sample in the form of packets for the purpose of being analysed by the Public Analyst is violative of the Rules on the point and is, therefore, fatal to the case of the prosecution. This question came up for consideration before this Court in another case of Nasib Chand petitioner himself. The said case is reported as Nasib Chand Vs. The State of Punjab, 1986 (1) F.A.C. 88 In view of a number of earlier decisions of this Court including a Division Bench authority, it was held that it was not open to the Food Inspector to send the sample in the form of a packet. The complaint in the said case was, therefore, quashed. The facts of the present case are fully covered by the aforesaid decision. The impugned order of the trial Court summoning two petitioners as accused in the case is, therefore, quashed being an abuse of the process of Court. Petition allowed.;