M. RAJA MOHAMMED AND ANR.versusFOOD INSPECTOR, PALGHAT MUNICIPALITY

A                 M.RAJA MOHAMMED AND ANR.
                               v.
             FOOD INSPECTOR, PALGHAT MUNICIPALITY

                            NOVEMBER 22, 1991

B    [K. JAGANNATHA SHETTY AND YOGESHWAR DAYAL, JJ.]

          Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955 : Rules 44(g) and 47
    (As amended by Prevention ofFood Adulteration (Third Amendment) Rules.
    1968 and as they stood prior to Amendment of 15.4.1988)-Appendix
     'B'-Restriction on sale of Articles containing Artificial sweetener/
C   Saccharin-Prescription ojstandard of saccharin or any artificial sweet-
    ener in Appendix 'B' is not relevant-Standard must be prescribed in
    respect of Article of sale-Standard must permit user of sweetener in the
    Article-No standard laid down for Supari and Pan Masala-Held addi-
    tion of artificial sweetener saccharin in Pan Masala and Supari is prohib-
    ited.
D
         The appellant (in Criminal Appeal No. 553/89) was prosecuted
    for selling adulterated supari with admixture of saccharin. He filed
    a petition in the Kerala High Court under section 482 of the Crimi-
    nal Procedure Code for quashing the criminal proceedings which
    was dismissed by a single judge. Against the decision of the single
E   judge an appeal was filed in this Court.

          The appellant (In Criminal Appeal No. 283/91) was also pros-
    ecuted for selling adulterated Supari but was acquitted by the Chief
    Judicial Magistrate, Palakkad. On appeal the Kerala High <:;ourt
    set aside his acquittal and convicted him under section 16(1) (a) (i)
F   of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and sentenced him to
    imprisonment for 6 months and a fine of Rs.1000. Against the order
    of the Kerala High Court an appeal was filed in this Court.

         The appellant (In Criminal Appeal No. 284/91) was convicted
    under section 7(i) and (v) read with sections 16(i) (a) (ii) of the
G   Prevention of Food Adulteration Act for sale of adulterated supari
    with admixture of saccharin. He filed a Revision Petition in the
    Kerala High Court and a Single Judge dismissed the same. Against
    the order of the Single Judge an appeal was filed in this Court.

         The facts in the connected civil appeal (Nos. 3708-13/89) are
H   that a batch of writ petitions was filed in the Andhra Pradesh High

                                       390.
                                                                                 /
                                                                                 f
                                                                                 (
                 RAJA MOHAMMED v. FOOD INSPECTOR

·Court for a declaration that the admixture of saccharin in supari        A
 was in accordance with Rule 44 of the Prevention of Food Adultera-
 tion Rules, 1955 and for restraining the respondents from interfer-
 ing with the business of sale of supari. A Division Bench of the High
 Court allowed the writ petitions. Against the decision of the Divi-
 sion Bench Union of India has filed appeals in this Court.
                                                                          B
      Civil Appeal No. 1897191 is directed against the order of the
Division Bench of the Kerala High Court which held that the learned
Single Judge should have declined jurisdiction for the reason that
the relie'f claimed was of a general character for a declaration that
the admixture of saccharin in Roja Scented betelnut is not a blanket
ban under Rule 47 read with Appendix 'B' of the Prevention of             C
Food Adulteration Rules, 1955.

     Criminal Appeal No. 722/91 is directed against the order of
the High Court of Kerala setting aside the order of acquittal passed
by the trial court and remanding the matter to the trial court for
fresh disposal according to law. The High Court did not agree with        D
the submission that the article of Supari was not adulterated as
saccharin could be added to Supari. Accordingly it held that sac-
charin could not be added to supari and consequently remanded the
matter to the trial court for fresh disposal according to law.

      In appeals to this court it was contended on behalf of the ac-      E
cused that on the construction of Rule 44(c) it permits sale of Arti-
cle of food which contains artificial sweetener with the standard as
laid down in Appendix 'B' to Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules,
1955.

      Disposing the appeals, this Court,                                  F

       HELD : I.Rule 44(g) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration
 Rules, 1955 indicates that sale of any article of food which contains
 artificial sweetener is banned. The ban is lifted only if such artifi-
 cial sweetener is permitted to be added to the article of food for
 which standards have been laid down in Appendix 'B' to the Rules.        G
 Ruic 47 in other form specifically bars saccharin or any other arti-
 cle of artificial sweetener to be added in any article of food, except
 where the addition of such artificial sweetener is permitted in ac-
 cordance with the standards laid down in Appendix 'B'. Thus both
 Rules 44(g) and 47 constitute a total blanket ban on the addition of
 any artificial sweetener including saccharin to any article of food      H
     392               SUPREME COURT REPORTS             (1991) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A    unless standards for that article of food is prescribed which author-
     ises the use of such an artificial sweetener. [398 G, 399 A-BJ

           2. The prescription of standard of saccharin or any artificial
     sweetener in Appendix 'B' is really irrelevant. It is not the question
     of standard being prescribed for saccharin which is irrelevant what
B    is relevant is the standard being prescribed in Appendix 'B' of the
     article of food which is being sold and which standard permits user
     of saccharin. This is the real intention of the legislature while enact-
     ing Rule 44(g) of the Rules. [399 E-F)

           3.   What one has to see is the article of food in which the
c artificial sweetener is sought to be added. The article which was
    being sold should contain a standard and the standard should per-
    mit artificial sweetener to be added. If the standards for that article
    or'food is provided in Appendi~ 'B' to the Rules and such standards
    permU the addition of saccharin or any other artificial sweetener,

D
                                       or
    ·~~~ ~9~ i~e'! only ~~cc~arin any other ~rtifi~i~! s~eet~ner could
    b~ Jtdd@4 ~md ~~t ~~~er'!ise, 7 [399 A-CJ

         4. Admittedly no st;indard has been laid down for Pan Masala
    or Supari I.e. the article  ·c;t
                                ·food which was being sold. Therefore,
    the exception permitted by clause (g) of Rule 44 has no application
    and no relevance. (398 H, 399-A]
E
         Pyarali K. Tejani v. Mahadeo Ramchandra Dange and Ors., [1974)
    1 S.C.C. 167, explained and applied.

          State of Maharashtra v. Ra1yitbhai Babubhai Suratwal/a, [1979)
    FAJ 231; Thummalapudi Venkata Gopala Rao v. The State, [1986] Crl.
F
    L.J. 1699, Mis Wahab and Co. a proprieta1y concern represented by its
    proprietor NA. Wahab son of N Mohammad Sher((( v. Food Inspector.
    Tirnchirappalli Municipal Cmpn., Trichy, [1990] L.W. (Crl.) 437; Kai/ash
    v. The State of Rajasthan, (1985) 1. F.A.C. 282; State of Assam v. Ram
    Karani and Ors., (1987) 3 All India Prevention of Food Adulteration
    Journal 153; Ujjain Municipal Cmpn., Ujjain v. Chetan Das, (1985) 1
G
    F;A.C. 46, overruled.

           State by Public Prosecutor v. K.R. /lalakrislman, (1986) 1 F.A.C.
    384; Food Inspector v. Usman, (1985) K.L.T. 1038; Krishna Chandra (/11
    jail) v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (199~) 1 F.A.C. 35, approved.
H
      RAJA MOHAMMED v. FOOD INSPECTOR [YOGESHW AR DAY AL, J.]          393

    CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No.                     A
722of1991.

     From the Judgment and Order dated 2 l. l 2. l 990 of the Kerala High
Court in Criminal Appeal No. 425 of 1989.

      B.R.L. Iyanger, R. Mohan, Y. Krishnamurthy and V. Balachandran         B
for the Appellants.

     P.S. Poti, T.T. Kunhikannan, E.M.S. Anam, Ms. Indira Sawhney, P.
Panneswaran, Ms. Sushma Suri, K. Ram Kumar and Y.P. Rao for the
Respondents.
                                                                             c
     The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

      YOGESHWAR DAYAL, J. Special leave granted.

     This order will dispose of six matters namely, Crl. Appeal Nos. 553/
89, 283/91, 284/91; Civil Appeal Nos. 3708-13/89, 1897/91 and Criminal       D
Appeal arising out of S.L.P. (Crl.) No. 2647 /91.

FACTS

Cr/. A. No. 553189
                                                                             E
      This appeal arises from the judgment of the learned Single Judge of
the High Court ofKerala dated 6th June, 1988 whereby the learned Single
Judge declined to quash the prosecution of the petitioner therein under
Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The petitioner1therein has
been prosecuted for selling adulterated "Ashoka special supari" on the
basis of a certificate issued by the Director of Central Food Laboratory     F
showing that the article of Food purchased from the accused contained
2000 mgs/kg. saccharin and that the sample does not conform to the
Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955, (hereinafter referred to as
the Rules). The High Court took the view that the report prima facie goes
to show that accused has sold adulterated article of food and consequently
declined to quash the prosecution under Section 482 of the Code. [ 1988      G
(2) K.L.T. 5].

Cr/. A. No. 283191

     This appeal is directed against the order of the Kerala High Court
dared 22nd January, 1991 accepting the appeal against the order of           H
     394                  SUPREME COURT REPORTS              (1991) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A    acquittal passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Palakkad, in S.T.No. 36
     of 1988. The appeal was filed against the acquittal of accused Nos. 2 and
     3 therein and out of whom N. Raja Mohammed, the Joint Managing
     Director of MIS N. V.K. Mohammed Sultan Rawther (P) Ltd., is the appel-
     lant before us. The High Court confirmed the acquittal of second accused
     but sentenced the appellant before us under Section 16(l)(a)(i) of the
B    Prevention of Food Adulteration•Act to undergo simple imprisonment for
     six month and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000 with a default sentence of simple
     imprisonment for two more months.

     Cr/. A.NO. 284191.

c         This appeal is filed against-the order dated 21st December, 1990
    passed by the learned Single Judge of the Kerala High Court dismissing
    the revision petition whereby accused No. 1 therein was sentenced to pay
    Rs. 1,000 as fine and the two other accused were sentenced to simple
    imprisonment for six months each and Rs. l ,000 as fine and in default of
    payment of fine to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one
D   month more. Their conviction were recorded under Section 7(i) and (v)
    read with Section (16) (I) (a) (ii) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration
    Act for having sold Roja Sungandha Supari with admixture of saccharin.
    The sample was taken on 22nd December, 1986.

     Civil Appeal Nos. 3708-13189
E
          These appeals are filed by the Union of India against the judgment
    of the Division Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh dated 16th
    June, 1986 whereby the Division Bench following the judgment of a
    learned Single Judge in Crl. Misc. Petition No. 1569 of 1984 allowed the
F   writ petitions. A batch of writ petitions were filed for a declaration that
    the admixture of saccharin in Anjali Sugandhi Supari; Roja Scented Betelnut;
    Nizam Supari; A.R.R. Saugantha Supari and Ajantha Sugandhi Supari is
    in accordance with Rule 44 of the Rules and restraining the respondents/
    appellant herein from interfering with the business of sale of Supari with
    such an admixture.
G
    Civil Appeal No. 1897191

          This appeal is directed against the order of the Division Bench of
    the Kerala High Court dated 22nd November, 1990 whereby the learned
    Division Bench was inclined to take the view that the learned Single
H   Judge should have declined jurisdiction for the reason that the relief claimed
      RAJA MOHAMMED v. FOOD INSPECTOR [YOGESHWAR DAY AL, J.)                  395

 is of a general character for a declaration that the admixture of saccharin        A
 in Roja Scented Betelnut is not a blanket ban under Rule 47 read with
 Appendix B of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955.

      t:rl. Appeal arising out of SLP (Cr/.) No. 2647191

       This appeal ii; directed against the order of the High Court of Kerala       B
dated 21st December, 1990 setting aside the order of acquittal passed by
the trial coun and remanding the matter to the trial court for fresh disposal
according to law. The trial court had inter alia taken the view that the
sample of Supari in question was taken contrary to Rule 22-A of the
Rules. The High Court took the view that the sample was properly taken.
On a plea being raised that the article of Supari was not adulterated as            C
saccharin could be added to Supari, the High Court did not agree with the
S\lbmission and held that saccharin could not be added to Supari and
consequently the High Court remanded the matter to the trial court for
fresh disposal according to law.

        The case inter alia involves interpretation of Rule 44 (g) of the
                                                                                    D
  Rules before its deletion with effect from iSth April, 1988 and the amend-
  ment of Rule 47 by Notification No. GSR454 (E) dated 15.4.1988 (with
  effect from 15.4.1989) as covered by GSR 1157 (E) dated 9.12.1988.
  Rules 44(g) and 47 as they originally stood and as they stood modified at
  the relevant time of taking of the sample, figured during the arguments
. and they are extracted hereunder with comments :-
                                                                                    E
            "44.Sale of certain admixtures prohibited - Notwithstanding
            the provisions of Rule 43, no person shall either himself or by
            any servant or agent sell-

            (g) any article of food which contains any artificial sweetener,
            except Saccharin, .or in the preparation of which any such              F
            artificial sweetener has been used".

            "47.Addition of Saccharin to be mentioned on the label -

            Saccharin may be added _to any food if the container of such
            food is labelled with an adhesive declaratory label, which shall        G
            be in the fonn given below :

            This ..... (name of food) ..... contains an admixture of Saccharin".

      These Rules held the field from November 24, 1956 until August 24,
1968 when they were further amended. The Prevention of Food Adultera-               H
tion (Third Amendment) Rules 1968, redrafted Rules 44 (g) and 47, and it
     396                SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [1991) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A    is these Rules which were extant at the time of the alleged offence. It is
     proper at this stage to reproduce these two Rules :
                "44.Sale of certain admixtures prohibited - Notwithstanding
                the provisions of Rule 43 no person shall either by himself or
                by any 'servant or agent sell -
B               (g) any article of food which contains any artificial sweetener
                except where such artificial sweetener is permitted in accord-
                ance with the standards laid down in Appendix 'B'.
                "47.Addition of artificial sweetener to be mentioned on the
                label-Saccharin or any other artificial sweetener shall not be
c               added to any article of food, ex,cept where the. addition of such
                artificial sweetener is permitted in accordance with the stand-
                ards laid down in Appendix 'B' and where any artificial sweet-
                ener is added to any food the container of such food shall be
                labelled with an adhesive-declaratory label which shall be in
                the form given below:
D
                This ..... (name of food) ..... contains an admixture ..... (name of
                the artificial sweetener)".
         The Supreme Court in its decision Pyarali K. Tejani v. Mahadeo
     Ramchandra Dange and Others, (1974] 1 SCC 167 took the view that at
E . the relevant time the article like saccharin could not be added to the
     Supari in view of the amended Rules 44(g) and 47 of the Rules. It will be
    noticed that till date no standard has been prescribed in Appendix 'B' to
    the Rules so far as the Supari is concerned. Therefore under Rule 44(g)
  ·there was a total prohibition of use of saccharin, which is an artificial
    sweetener, to any article of food including Supari and regarding saccharin
F it was specifically provided in Rule 47 that it shall not be added to any
    article of food, except where ·the addition of such artificial sweetener is
    permitted in accordance with the standards laid down in Appendix 'B'.
    Therefore, under Rule 47 again so far as saccharin is concerned and for
    which no standards have been prescribed in Appendix 'B' there was total
                                                                                       -
   prohibition of adding the same in any article of food. This was the view
G taken In the aforesaid case of Pyarali K. Tejani. For the period relevant
    for the Tejani 's case the Rules permitted saccharin to be added in case of
   carbonated water in item 5(B)-A 1.01.0 l only but no such permission was
   noticed by the Supreme Court in the case of Supari. Thus the Supreme
    Court had settled the law, as far as the Rules between August 24, 1968
    and 15th April, 1988 are concerned. We may mention that w.e.f. 15.4.1988
H Rule 44(g) was omitted and Rule 47 was substituted by new Rules.
       RAJA MOHAMMED v. FOOD INSPECTOR [YOGESHW AR DAY AL, J.)           397

        However, it appears that with effect from 26th May, 1971 for the        A
 first time a standard was prescribed for Saccharin Sodium as item No.
 A.07.10 in Appendix 'B' to the Rules.

         After the provision of standard for Saccharin Sodium in Appendix
   'B' to the Rules, the Bombay High Court in the case of State ofMaharashtra
   v. Ranjitbhai Babubhai Suratwalla, [1979] FAJ 231 (Bombay) distinguished     B
  the judgment of the Supreme Court in Tejani 's case (supra) and took the
  view that because standards have been prescribed for saccharin, Rule 47
  permitted its user in article of food. This view was followed by Single
  Judge of the Andhra Preadesh High Court in the case reported as
  Thummalapudi Venkata Gopala Rao v. The State, (l986)Crl LJ 1699. A
  similar view was taken by another Single Bench of the Madras High Court       C
  in the case Mis. Wahab and Co .. a Propriet01y concern represented by its
  proprietor MA. Wahab son nf N. Mohamed Sherif/" v. Food_ Inspector,
 TiruchirappalliMunicipalC017;oration, Trichy; (1990) L.W.(Crl.) 437 with-
  out noticing the earlier contrary view of the same High Court ·reported as
  State by Public Prosecutor v. K.R. Balakrishnan, (1986) (I) FAC 384. The
  Rajasthan High Court also took the same view in the case reported as          D ·
  Kai/ash v. The State of Rajasthan, (1985) (I) FAC 282. The Gauhati High
  Court in the case reported as State of Assam v. Ram Karani af)d Others
  (1987) (3) All India Prevention of food Adulteration Journal 153 follow-
  ing some of the aforesaid decisions also took the view-tnaf a<ldition of
. artificial sweetener like saccharin in Supari or Pan-Ka-Masala, if it con-
  forms to the standard laid down in Clause A.07.10 of the Appendix 'B' of      E
  the Rules, did not violate Rule 44(g) read with Rule 47 of the Rules. The
  Madhya Pradesh High Court in the case reported as Ujjain Municipal
  Corporation, Ujjain v. Chetan Das, (1985) (I) FAC 46. followed the view
  of the Boma.by High Court in the case reported as Ranjitbhai Babubhai
  Suratwalla (supra).
                                                                                F
       On the other hand the High Com1 of Kerala, Allahabad and another
 earlier Single Bench of the Madras High Court· took the view that pre-
 scription of standard of saccharin in Appendix 'B' to the Rules could not
 alter the interpretation of Rule 44(g) nor help could ·be taken from
 interpretaion of Rule 47. The Kerala High Court in the case reported as
 Food Inspector v. Usman, (1985) K.L.T. 1038 noticed the view of the            G
 Bombay High Court in Ranjitbhai Babubhai Suratwa/la 's case (supra) and
 dissented from it and held:

             "Rule 47 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules pro-
             vides that saccharin or any other artificial sweetener shall not
             be added to any article of food, except where the addition of      H
    398                SUPREME COURT REPORTS                (1991] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.


A               such artificial sweetener is pennitted in accordarlce with the
                standards laid down in Appendix 'B' and where any artificial
                sweetener is added to any food, the container of such food
                shall be labelled with an adhesive deClaratory label to that
                effect. That means unless and to the extent in accordance with
                the standards prescribed in Appendix 'B' saccharin ot any other
B               artificial sweetener are prohibited material in food articles. For
                pan supari no standard is fixed in Appendix 'B'. That means
                addition o.f artificial sweetener is not permitted by the stand-
                ards laid down in Appendix 'B' and the prohibitions under
                Rule 47 operates as an absolute prohibition against addition of
                saccharin or other artificial sweetener so far as pan supari is
c               concerned. Whether addition of artificial sweetener is injuri-
                ous to health or life is not a matter for consideration when its
                addition is prohibited".
         Following the decision of the Supreme Court in Tejani 's case the
    Court set aside the acquittal of accused No. 1 and sentenced him.
D         A Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Krishna Chandra
    (in Jail) v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (1990) (I) F.A.C. 35 differed with the
    earlier decision of the Single Bench in Ibrahim Hussain v. State of Uttar
    Pradesh and also differed with the view of the Bombay High Court in
    Ranjitbhai Babubhai Suratwalla 's case and declined to distinguish the
    Tejani's case as held by this court and took the view that the prescription
E
    of the standard of saccharin ·is not at all relevant to the inquiry and
    saccharin could not be added to any article of food unless permitted by
    standard prescribed in Appendix 'B' to the Rules and purported to follow
    the decision of this Court in Tejani's case.

F          Before us also Mr. B.R.L. Iyengar, who appeared for the accused,
    made submission that on the construction of Rule 44(g) it permits sale of
    article of food which contains artificial sweetener with the standard as laid
    down in Appendix 'B' to Rules. We are unable to accept the submission.
    We are also unable to accept the decisions of the High Courts supporting
    that view.
G
           Rule 44 (g) indicates that sale of any article of food which contains
    artificial sweetener is banned. The ban is lifted only if such artificial
    sweetener is permitted to be added to the article of food for which stand-
    ards have. been laid down in Appendix 'B' to the Rules. Admittedly no
    standard has been laid down for Pan Masala or Supari. It is this article of
H   food which was being sold. No standard was prescribed for this article of
    food. Therefore, the exception permitted by clause (g) has no application
       RAJA MOHAMMED v. FOOD INSPECTOR [YOGESHWAR DAYAL, J.)              399

 and no relevance. The article which was being sold should contain a A
 standard and the standard should permit artificial sweetener to be added.
 Again Rule 47 in other form specifically bars saccharin or any other
 article of artificial sweetener to be added in any article of food, except
 where the addition of such artificial sweetener is permitted in accordance
 with the standards laid down in Appendix 'B'. Therefore both Rules 44(g)
 and 47 constitute a total blanket ban on the addition of any artificial B
 sweetener including saccharin to any article of food unless standards for
 that article of food is prescribed which authorises the use of such an
 artificial sweetener. The argument that since the standards of saccharin
 have been provided for in the Appendix 'B' to the Rules and therefore, it
 could be added in view of the language of Rule 44(g) is fallacious. What
 one has to see is the article of food in which the artificial sweetener is C
 sought to be added. If the standards for that article of food is provided in
 Appendix 'B' to the Rules and such standards permit the addition of
 saccharin or any other artificial sweetener, then and then only saccharin or
 any other artificial sweetener could be added and not otherwise not.
         It appears that the Bombay High Court and the other High Courts        D
  which have taken the opposite view seem to have fallen into errors while
  interpreting Rule 44(g). They have assumed as if once the standards of
  saccharin or the artificial sweetener have been prescribed it could be
  freely added to any article of food. It is necessary to point out that the
  prescription of standard of saccharin or any artificial sweetener in Appen-
  dix 'B' is really irrelevant. What was emphasised in Tejani 's case is the    E
  standard of food and the standard should permit saccharin or any artificial
  sweetener to be added. It is not the question of standard being prescribed
  for saccharin which is relevant; what is relevant is the standard being
- prescribed in Appendix 'B' of the article of food which is being sold and
  which standard permits user of saccharin. This is the real intention of the
  legislature while enacting Rule 44(g) of the Rules. For Supari and Pan        F
  Masala, it is undisputed that there is no standard prescribed.
       In this view of the matter, we agree with the decisions of the Kerala
 High court in Food Inspector v. Usman (1985) K.L.T. 1038; Allahabad
 High Court in Krishna Chandra. (in Jail) v. State of Uttar Pardesh. 1990
 (I) F.A.C. 35 and Madras High Court in State by Public Prosecutor v.
 KR. Balakrishnan, 1986 (I) F.A.C. 384.
                                                                                G
       The decisions in : State of Maharashtra v. Ranjitbhai Suratwal/a,
 179 FAJ 231 (Bombay) the Bombay High Court; Thummalapudi Venkata
 Gopa/a Rao v. The State. (l 986) Crl. L.J. 1699 of the Andhra Pradesh
 High Court ; Mis. Wahab and Co., a Proprietary concern represented by
 its proprietor M.A. Wahab son of N. Mohammed Sheriff v. Food Inspec-           H
     400               SUPREME COURT REPORTS         .   [1991) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A    tor, Tiruchirapalli Municipal Corporation, Trichy, (1990) L.W. (Crl.) 437
     of the Madras High Court; Kai/ash v. The State of Rajasthan, 1985 (I)
     F.A.C. 282 of the Rajasthan High Court; The State of Assam v. Ram -
     Karani and Others, 1987 (3) All India Prevention of Food Adulteration
     Journal 153 of the Gauhati High Court and UjjaiJJ Municipal Corporation,
     Ujjain v. Chetan Das, 1985 (I) F.A.C. 46 of the Madhya Pradesh High
B.   Court cannot be. said to have been correctly decided and are hereby- over-
     ruled.

           The result is that civil Appeal Nos. 3708-13 of 1989 are accepted
     and the impugned judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court dated 16th
     June, 1986 is set aside Crl. Appeal Nos. 553/89, 283/91, 284/91, Civil
     Appeal No. 1897/91 and the appeal arising out of S.L.P. (Crl.) No. 2647/
     91 are dismissed.

     T.N.A.                                              Appeals disposed of.