Crl. Misc. No. M-36293 of 2009 (O&M) {1} IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl. Misc. No. M-36293 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : 16.05.2011 Sarabjit Singh and others ......Petitioners versus State Of Punjab ...Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE RITU BAHRI Present: Mr. D.P.S. Randhawa, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Vishal Munjal, Addl.A.G, Punjab **** RITU BAHRI , J. (Oral) The present petition has been filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C for quashing of FIR No. 56 dated 10.05.2009, under Section 61 of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914 (for short 'the Act'), registered at Police Station Zira, District Ferozepur (Annexure P-1), and all the subsequent proceeding arising therefrom Learned counsel for the petitioner has referred to amended provisions of 61 (A) of the Act, which is reproduced as under:- “Penalty for offences not triable by a Court- Crl. Misc. No. M-36293 of 2009 (O&M) {2} (1) Whosoever, in contravention of any provision of this Act, the rules framed there under, any notification issued or any order made or any license, permit or pass granted under this Act, imports, exports, transports or possesses any intoxicants other than those, specified in clause (aa) of subsection (1) of Section 61 (herein after referred to as 'such intoxicants' shall, along with such intoxicants and means of transport, except the passenger buses, owned by the Central Government or the State Government or any of their undertaking, be detained by an Excise Officer, who shall make a report to the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commission Incharge of the district, within a period of twenty-four hours of such detention. The Excise Officer shall forward such intoxicants and the means of transport alongwith necessary documents to the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner in-charge of the district. It has further been argued that after receipt of the report referred to in subsection (1), the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner In-charge of the district shall record the statement of the offender and officers, concerned with the case and release the offender. The Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner In-charge can impose the following penalties after providing the offender a reasonable opportunity of being heard as under:- (a) rupees five thousand in case, the detection of such intoxicants, does not exceed two cases i.e 18 bulk litres; Crl. Misc. No. M-36293 of 2009 (O&M) {3} and (b) rupees ten thousand in case, the detection of such intoxicants, exceeds two cases i.e 18 bulk litres The Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner In-charge of the district can confiscate such intoxicants and may by an order impose the following penalities after providing the offender a reasonable opportunity of being heard in case, such intoxicants detained are licit, on which the excise duty and other levies have been paid in the State of Punjab, namely: (a) rupees twenty-five thousand in case, the detection of such intoxicants, does not exceed five cases i.e 45 bulk litres; and (b) rupees fifty thousand in case, the detection of such intoxicants, exceeds five cases 45 bulk litres; but does not exceed 450 bulk litres (c) rupees one lac in case the detection of such intoxicants exceeds fifty cases i.e 450 bulk litires The Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner In-charge can put to auction the confiscated means of transport within a period of thirty days from the date of order of confiscation passed under sub- section (s). The above said provisions have been considered by this Court in the case of Jarnail Singh and others vs. State of Punjab, Crl. Misc. No. M-36293 of 2009 (O&M) {4} 2008(3) R.C.R. (Criminal) 749 wherein it was held that the offence was triable by Assistant and Taxation Officer and not by a Magistrate under Section 61 (A) of the Act. Even after presentation of challan against the accused, the Magistrate had returned the challan papers to the public prosecutors, this order of the Magistrate was upheld by this Court. In para 13, the Court has observed as under:- However, as is evident from the facts on record, for the alleged offence committed by the petitioner under the 1914 Act, FIR was registered against him under Section 61/1/14 of the 1914 Act at Police Station Machhiwara though in terms of provisions of Section 61- A of the Act, the alleged offence was required to be dealt with by the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, in-charge of the district. As the FIR was registered, in furtherance thereto after investigation, a challan was presented in the Court where charges were framed against the petitioner. However, when the import of Section 61-A of the 1914 Act, as was inserted with effect from 02.05.2011, was brought to the notice of the Court, the learned Magistrate passed the following order” Learned State counsel does not dispute the settled proposition of law. Crl. Misc. No. M-36293 of 2009 (O&M) {5} In view of the above cited judgment, FIR No. 56 dated 10.05.2009, under Section 61 of the Act, registered at Police Station Zira, District Ferozepur, is quashed. Accordingly, the petition stands disposed of. However, liberty is granted to the State to take appropriate action as per Section 61 (A) of the Act May 16, 2011 (RITU BAHRI) G.Arora JUDGE