1 1 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO.3159 OF 2008 Pradeep Narayan Deshpande .. Applicant. Vs. The State of Maharashtra .. Respondent. Mr.Shekhar A.Ingawale for the applicant. Mr.P.P.Shinde A.P.P. for the State. CORAM : D.B.BHOSALE, J. CORAM : D.B.BHOSALE, J. CORAM : D.B.BHOSALE, J. DATED : 6TH OCTOBER, 2008. DATED : 6TH OCTOBER, 2008. DATED : 6TH OCTOBER, 2008. P.C.: . Heard Mr.Ingawale, learned counsel for the applicant and Mr.Shinde, learned A.P.P. for the State. 2. The applicant is seeking anticipatory bail in connection with C.R.No.82 of 2008 registered with Atpadi police station, District Sangli under section 420 of IPC and under section 6 and 7 of the Seeds Act, 1956 and under section 12 of the Essential Commodities Act. 3. The applicant has been in the business of selling cotton seeds as well as other seeds of various companies since last 30 years. The applicant is having an agency of cotton seeds of the Griffin Seeds 2 2 2 Corporation, from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Their product is sold in the name of Varlaxmi Cotton Seeds. The applicant claims that the breed of the said product - cotton seeds is duly approved by the Government of Tamil Nadu. It appears that the quality Control Inspector appointed by the Govt. of Maharashtra, as a part of his duty under the provisions of the Seeds Act, collects samples of seeds from the agents, who sell seeds to the farmers to find out whether the seeds are of standard quality. Accordingly the samples of Varlaxmi cotton seeds were collected in the month of March, 2008. On its analysis it was found that purity of the product is 100% and Germination 68% when minimum standard required is 75%. There were also some complaints from farmers about the seeds supplied by the applicant. There is no dispute that the seeds sold/distributed by the applicant were manufactured by Griffin Seeds Corporation and he was not involved in its manufacturing process. He claims that he used to sell these seeds in a sealed cover as supplied to him by Griffin Corporation. Immediately on receipt of the complaint, the applicant claims that he stopped distribution of the seeds and immediately informed the said Griffin Corporation about the complaints from the farmers. There is no allegation that even after the quality of seeds was found to be sub-standard, the 3 3 3 applicant continued to distribute it to the farmers. It appears that the concerned department has already suspended licence of the applicant. Keeping that in view and considering overall facts and circumstances of the case I am inclined to allow this application for anticipatory bail. Hence I pass the following order: . In the event of arrest, the applicant be released on bail in the sum of Rs.25,000/- with one or two sureties to make up the said amount subject to the conditions that the applicant shall report to the concerned police station on every Saturday between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. till filing of the charge-sheet and thereafter as and when called. If the charge-sheet is not filed within 90 days from the date of his formal arrest, the applicant shall report to the concerned police station as aforementioned only for the period of 90 days. (D.B.Bhosale, J.) (D.B.Bhosale, J.) (D.B.Bhosale, J.)