75 le Criminal Revision Noe1070 of 1997 IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB 8 HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH aee e Ct Criminal Revision Noe1070 of 1997 0 Date of Decisionl December 2 2009 0 I C5 Sohan Lal Petitioner ae e I VERSUS Z State of Haryana e le Whether the Reporters of Local Newspapersmay be aliowed to see the judgment7 r5 2 To be referred to the Reporters or not7 e 3 Whether the judgmentshould be reportedin the Dlgest7 V7 Z CORAM 1HONBLE MRe JUSTICE MOHINDER PAL fl Presentl Mr LeSharmaAdvocate for the petltioner Ms Sushma Chopra Additional Advocate General Haryanae MOHINDER PAL Je Petitioner Sohan Lal was sent up for trial for the offence punishableSection 16 aJ I of the Prevention of Food AdulteratlonAct 1954 or short the Act1 on the aliegationthat on 220101988 at about 1030 AM he was found in Parkash Om 2012.10.16 13: 47 True Scanned Copy Of Original PHHC,Chandigarh JOYTI RANI 2016.03.28 16:21 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 76 J 1 a Crlminal Revision No1070 of 1997 possessionof ten Iitres of coWs milk for public sale which on anaIyslSwas found to be deficient in milk fat by the Public AnalystHaryana The Judicial MagistrateIstClassSonepat vide 1 0 judgmentof convlction and the sentence order dated 162 1995 0 convicted the petitionerunder Section 16 al of the Act 0 and sentenced hlm to undergo rigorous imprisonmentfor a C5 perlodof nine months and to pay a fine of Rs10001 in defauit I whereof to undergo further imprisonmentfor one month a Feeling Z aggrievedagainsthis conviction and sentence order the petitioner r filed appeal before the Court of Session at Sonepat Vide tr judgment dated 111 1 1997 the Ieamed Additional Sessions Judge I Sonepat upheld the judgmentof conviction but reduced the 08 sentence of imprisonment to six months and maintained the 7 sentence of flnee Hence thls revision petition Z I have heard the Iearned counsel for the parties and m have gone through the records of the case In this case the registeredIetter containing the copy of the report of the PubIicAnaiyst sent to the accusedepetitioner was not properly addressed As such there was not complianceof the mandatoryprovisionsof Section 13 21of the Acte The copy of the forwarding Ietter Exhiblt PW3181 sent to the accusecoetltioner shows that it was addressed to Sohan Lal slo Shri Ram Chand Halwai Shop OId DC Road near Batra Hospital SonepatIl However the Postal Receipt No2411 Exhibit PW31A1shows the name of the addressee as Sham 1 Parkash Om 2012.10.16 13: 47 True Scanned Copy Of Original PHHC,Chandigarh JOYTI RANI 2016.03.28 16:21 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 77 1 Pr1 3 l Criminal Revision No 1070 of 19970 Lal slo Shri Ram Chand Halwai Sonepat whereas the name of the petitionerIs Sohan Lal In criminal matters where Ilbertyof a personis involved the prosecution has to prove its case beyondall shadows of reasonable doubts The objectlveof Section 13 21of the Act is not only to give the person from whom the 0 C sample is taken a copy of the reportof the PuiblicAnaiyst but C5 also to draw the attention of the accused to his right to get the I sample analyzed from the Central Food Laboratoryby maklng an 4 Z appllcationto the Court wlthin a fixed periodof time This valuable right has been provided to the accused to receive such a C2 e notice from the Local Health9Authority The of the provislonsof Section 13 2J of the Act vitiates the entire a5 proceedings Admittedly the report of the Public Analyst am Haryana along with the forwarding memo was sent to the Z accused through reglsteredpost acknowledgment due Qm Admittedly the acknowledgment was not received in the office of Local 4eaithlAuthorlty It appears that some employeein the office of Local HealthlAuthoritySonepat mentioned the name of the petitloner on the Registered Cover as Sham Lalll instead of Sohan Lal either inadvertently or for some extraneous consideration Be that as it may the fact remains that tcreates a doubt whether the petitioner had been provided his aforestated valuable right of getting the sample reetested from the Central Food Laboratory In view of the above and without dilating any further Parkash Om 2012.10.16 13: 47 True Scanned Copy Of Original PHHC,Chandigarh JOYTI RANI 2016.03.28 16:21 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 78 4 4 e4m Crimhlal Revision N01070 of 19970 on the point at Issue this petitlonsucceeds Accordingly it is allowed the impugned judgmentsof conviction and the sentence orders passed by both the Courts beiow are set aside and the 1 is acquitted of the chargeframed agalnsthim after extendinghim the benefit of doubt 0 0 However before parting with this judgment it is I ordered that the Local 1ealthlAuthoritySonepat will get the C5 I matter inquired into as to how the name of the petitioner on the RegisteredCover was mentioned as Sha m Lal instead Z of Sohan Lar and to see whether it was an act of inadvertence on the part of the employee concerned or the I same was done by him for some extraneous consideratlon If 08 the employee concerned is found at fault he will be suitably er punishedso as to serve as a deterrent to others 7 Z r December 23 2009 C PALI ak JUDGE 1 16 IO 1 1 Parkash Om 2012.10.16 13: 47 True Scanned Copy Of Original PHHC,Chandigarh JOYTI RANI 2016.03.28 16:21 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document