JUDGMENT :

ABHAY S. OKA, J.

1. Leave granted.

FACTUAL ASPECTS

2. Various provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (for short ‘the FSSA’) were brought into force on different dates. The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 (for short ‘the PFA’) was repealed with effect from 5th August 2011, as provided in sub-section (1) of Section 97 of the FSSA.

3. The appellant was, at the relevant time, a Director of M/s. Bharti Retail Limited (for short ‘Bharti’) a company that is engaged in the business of operating retail stores under the name of ‘Easy Day’ having its outlets all over the country. A Food Inspector appointed under the PFA visited a shop owned by Bharti in Indore and purchased certain biscuit packets from the shop. The visit was made on 29th November 2010. On the next day, a panchnama was drawn, and the samples were sent to the State Food Laboratory, Bhopal, for analysis and testing. The report of the Public Analyst was received on 4th January 2011. On 4th August 2011, a notification was issued under subsection (1) of Section 97 of the FSSA notifying 5th August 2011 as the date on which the PFA shall stand repealed. In Section 97, and in particular in sub-section