Judgment

A. P. SEN, J. :- This appeal by special leave from a judgment of the Calcutta High Court dated June 5, 1978 raises a question of some complexity. The question is as to the applicability of Section 16-A of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 ("Act" for short) as inserted by the Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment) Act, 1976 (for short "the Central Amendment Act") with respect to prosecutions launched under Section 10 (1) (a) read with Section 7 of the Act in the State of West Bengal between the period from April 29, 1974 to April 1, 1976. Such offenses according to the law then in force the Act as amended by the Prevention of Adulteration of Food, Drugs and Cosmetics (West Bengal Amendment) Act, 1973 (for short "the West Bengal Amendment Act") were punishable with imprisonment for life and therefore triable by the Court of Session.

2. It is common ground that the offence with which the respondents are charged is alleged to have been committed under Section 16 (1) (a) at a time when the Act stood amended in its application to the State of West Bengal by the provisions of the West Bengal Amendment Act. If the law continued to stand as it stood on the date of th