Judgment

JUDGMENT:- This appeal by special leave is directed against the appellate judgment of the Himachal Pradesh High Court reversing the appellate judgment of acquittal of the Sessions Judge and convicting the appellant under section 16(1)(a)(i) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and the sentence of six months rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1,000/-.

2. The appellant was called upon to face the following charge :-

"That on 9-7-1980, in the area of Bijhri, you were found in possession of 4 Kgs. of Masur Whole for sale kept in your shop out of which the complainant purchased from you a sample weighing 600 grams for the purposes of analysis against cash payment of Rs. 1.68, which on analysis by the Public Analyst Punjab was found to contain living and dead insects along with fragments of dead insects in abundance and about one fourth of the sample contains larva inside the grains, and the sample contained 36.0 per cent insect damaged grains against the maximum prescribed standard of 10.0 per cent and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 16(1)(a) read with section 7 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and within the cognizance of this court.