Criminal Appeal No 141 of 1967
Appeal from the judgment and order dated July 21 1967 of the Kerala High Court in Criminal Appeal No 109 of 1966
865 ASR Chari A section Nambiar and KR Nambiar for the appellant
VK Krishna Menon and  MRK Pillar for the respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Sikri J
In this appeal by certificate the only point that arises is whether the cash memo exhibit D1 issued by the seller to the appellant contains a warranty within r 12A of the rules framed under the Act 37 of 1954 hereinafter referred to as the Act
The Magistrate who tried the complaint held that exhibit D1 was a proper warranty and it fell within the proviso to r 12A
The High Court on appeal held to the contrary
The relevant facts are these
The appellant is a Rice  General Merchant and holds a wholesaler s licence
It was alleged in the complaint that the appellant had stored and exposed for sale and sold compounded asafoetida which was found  to have been adulterated by wheat starch and tapioca starch and that non permitted orange coaltar dye was present
The report of the Public Analyst to Government Trivandrum was relied on
in this connection
The appellant appeared as a witness and he stated that he purchased asafoetida from LT Alakesan and Brothers received it in enclosed packets in bags and sold it in bags
He received invoice which reads as follows Lt T Alhakesan  Brothers Asafoetida Merchants Veliamadom Sri K Ranganatha Reddier Kottarakara Rate 600 Particulars CST Rs 2
One case of Asafoetida Misky bag 30 Rs 180 The quality is up to the mark
CST Rs 360 Rs 18360 Rupees one hundred and eighty three and NP sixty only
One case 1d Id 1464 Sd 147542 18564 He further stated that it is written on the packet as Extra Superior in English and as Compounded misky full of quality and flavour in Tamil The relevant statutory provisions are 866 The section 14
Manufacturers distributors and dealers to give warranty
No manufacturer distributor or dealer of any article food shall sell such article to any vendor unless he also gives a warranty in writing in the prescribed form about the nature and quality of such article to the vendor section 192
A vendor shah not be deemed to have committed an offence pertaining to the sale of any adulterated or misbranded article of food if he proved a that he purchased the article of food i in a case where a license is prescribed for the sale thereof from a duly licensed manufacturer distributor or dealer ii in any other case from any manufacturer distributor or dealer with a written warranty in the prescribed form and b that the article of food while in his possession was properly stored and that he sold it in the same state as he purchased it
 The Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules 1955 Rule 12 A Warranty Every trader selling an article of food to a vendor shall if the vendor so requires deliver to the vendor a warranty in Form VI A Provided that no warranty in such form shall be necessary if the label on the article of food or the cash memo delivered by the trader to the vendor in respect of that article contains a warranty certifying that the food contained in the package or container or mentioned in the cash memo is the same in nature substance and quality as demanded by the vendor
Explanation
The term trader  shall mean an importer manufacturer wholesale dealer or an authorised agent of such importer manufacturer or wholesale dealer
 We are not concerned with the question whether rule 12A is contrary to the provisions of the Act
We take it that it is valid and if the appellant s case falls within the proviso he is entitled to acquittal
867 It was contended before us on behalf of the respondent that the warranty must state expressly that the food mentioned in the cash memo was the same in nature substance and quality as demanded by the vendor and if these words did not exist in the cash memo the proviso would not apply
We are unable to accede to this contention
It may be that if the warranty is not contained in a label or cash memo the warranty must be in Form VI A which uses these words We hereby certify that the foodfoods mentioned in this invoice isare warranted to be the same in nature substance and quality as that demanded by the vendor
 But we do not decide this as it is not necessary to do so
In our view when the proviso expressly says that no warranty in such form shall be necessary in certain eventualities it would be rewriting the rule to hold that nevertheless the same things must exist in the label or the cash memo
It seems to us that if the words in the warranty can reasonably be interpreted to have the s_nine effect as certifying the nature substance and quality of an article of food the warranty will fall within the proviso
The Act is of wide application and millions of small traders have to comply with the provisions of the Act and the Rules
The learned counsel for the State says that if they are not able to comply with the provisions they should stop carrying on their trade
But if the object underlying the Act can be achieved without disorganising the trade by giving a reasonable interpretation to Rule 12A it is our duty to do so
A number of English cases were referred to us but we do not find it necessary to refer to them as they interpret the Sale of Food  Drugs Act 1875 and the later Food  Drugs Act 1955
The language of the relevant sections dealing with defences is different and warranties employing different words have been interpreted
But they do at least show this that trade can be carried on and the object of the Act is not defeated even if traders use ordinary language of the trade or popular language in warranties
Coming now to the language used in the cash memo it seems to us that the words quality is up to the mark mean that the quality of the article is up to the standard required by the Act and the vendee
Quality in this context would include nature and substance because the name of the article is given in the cash memo
It must be remembered that it is not a document drafted by a solicitor it is a document using the language of a tradesman
Any tradesman when he is assured that the quality of the article is up to the mark will readily conclude that he is being assured 868 that the article is not adulterated
The offence if any has been committed by the seller and not the appellant
There was some argument before as to the difference in the meaning of the words nature substance and quality
It was pointed out that section 14 only uses two words nature and quality and not substance
But it is not necessary to express our views on this point
Reference was made to the case of Baburally vs Corporation of Calcutta1
This Court held that the words on the label and the so called cash memo in that case did not contain the requisite warranty
But we are unable to see how that case assists either the appellant or the State
In the result the appeal is allowed judgment of the High Court set aside and that of the Magistrate restored
The appellant s bail bond shall be treated as cancelled
RKPS Appeal allowed


Summary:
It was alleged in a complaint against the appellant who held a wholesaler s license that he had stored and sold compounded asafoetida which was found to have been adulterated
It was the appellant s case that he had purchased the asafoetida from a distributor in enclosed packets and that the cash memo furnished to him by the distributor stated inter alia that quality is upto the mark
It was therefore contended on his behalf that the case fell within the proviso to Rule 12 A of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules 1955 framed under Act 37 of 1954 in that no warranty in a prescribed form was necessary as the cash memo contained a warranty that the food contained in the package was the same in nature substance and quality as demanded by the appellant
Although the Trial Court upheld the appellant s contention the High Court on appeal held to the contrary
In the appeal to this Court it was respondent s contention that the warranty must state expressly that the food mentioned in the cash memo was the same in nature substance and quality as demanded by the vendor and if these words did not exist in the cash memo the proviso would not apply
HELD Allowing the appeal The words quality is upto the mark in the cash memo meant that the quality of the article was upto the standard required by the Act and the vendee
Quality in this context would include nature and substance because the name of the article was given in the cash memo
The cash memo was the document using the language of a tradesman
Any tradesman who was assured that the quality of the article was upto the mark would readily conclude that he was being assured the article was not adulterated
867 H When the proviso to Rule 12 A expressly says that no warranty in the prescribed form shall be necessary in certain eventualities it would be rewriting the rule to hold that nevertheless the same things must exist in the label or the cash memo
If the words used in the warranty can reasonably be interpreted to have the same effect as certifying the nature substance and quality of an article of food the warranty wilt fail within the proviso
867 D