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M/s Alkem Laboratories Ltd. v. The State of Madhya Pradesh

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 1304Decided 29 Nov 2019
Criminal Appeal arising out of SLP (Criminal) No. 3995 of 2018
Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar · Justice Krishna Murari

Background

A Food Inspector purchased samples of a packaged jelly product from a retailer in Bhopal for laboratory testing; the retailer initially could not identify the marketer but later produced a receipt naming Alkem Laboratories as the marketer. The State Laboratory found the product contained undisclosed sugar, rendering it "misbranded," but the authorities delayed notifying Alkem for an extended period, well beyond the product's likely shelf life, depriving Alkem of its statutory right under Section 13(2) of the Act to get the sample independently re-tested. Alkem's plea to quash the prosecution was rejected by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, leading to this appeal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that the Food Inspector had failed to promptly ascertain and notify the actual marketer despite having the power to do so, and that even after being informed of Alkem's identity by the retailer, the authorities did not make adequate efforts to notify Alkem at its address printed on the product label. The Court held this negligence deprived Alkem of its valuable statutory right to have the sample re-tested while it was still fit for analysis, since the product's shelf life had since expired. While acknowledging that non-compliance with Section 13(2) is not automatically fatal to a prosecution in every case, the Court found this to be a case where the denial of the re-testing right justified quashing. It allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court's judgment along with the lower court's impleadment order.

Lesson Learnt

Food safety and similar regulatory prosecutions must follow mandated procedural safeguards (such as prompt notice enabling independent re-testing) strictly: if authorities' own delay or negligence deprives an accused of a valuable statutory right before the evidence perishes, the prosecution itself can be quashed.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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