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Kancor Ingredients Ltd. & Ors. vs. Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Anr.

Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:7801Decided 14 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
CRL.M.C. 2503/2012CNR: DLHC011202422012
Dr. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma

Background

In 1995, a Food Inspector took a sample of "Hot and Spicy Marinade" from a Pepsico-run restaurant and found it was validly made but lacked a batch/lot/code number on its label: a labelling defect, not any actual contamination or unsafe content. A criminal complaint was filed in 1996 against the restaurant staff, the manufacturer (Kancor), its directors and general manager, alleging "misbranding" under the old Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, and the case dragged on in the trial court for over 15 years before the accused sought to have it thrown out.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court found that a 1985 Delhi government policy required that, for a first-time, purely labelling-related violation (where the food's actual contents were not adulterated or unsafe), the party must first be issued only a written warning: prosecution was meant to follow only for repeat violations. Since no warning was ever given here, and there was no allegation the marinade itself was adulterated, prosecuting the manufacturer and its directors straight away breached the government's own notified policy. The Court quashed the case against the manufacturer's side for the labelling-related charges, while allowing a separate, narrower charge (about not displaying a cooking-oil notice board) to continue only against the restaurant staff.

Lesson Learnt

Where a food business's only fault is a paperwork/labelling defect and its product is not actually unsafe, the law (as it stood then) required a warning before prosecution: criminal proceedings launched in violation of that policy can be quashed even decades later.

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