JUDGMENT :

Ashwani Kumar Singh, J.

The issue "Whether it is a complaint or an FIR which would lie under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940" has engaged the attention of this Court again and again.

2. Initially, the issue was settled by this Court in Hindustan Lever Limited Vs. State of Bihar & Ors., reported in 1997(1) BLJ 899. In that case, a learned Single Judge held that the prosecution for the offences under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 can be instituted by the Drug Inspector or by any person aggrieved by filing a complaint. The learned Single Judge further held that the police have no jurisdiction to institute an FIR in respect of the offences under the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 or investigate it in view of Section 32 of the Act.

3. The ratio laid down by the learned Single Judge in the case of Hindustan Lever Limited (Supra) that the FIR cannot be instituted for any offence arising out of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 was doubted by another Single Judge of this Court in Cr. Misc. No. 50246 of 2006 (Om Prakash Singh Vs. The State of Bihar & Ors.) and he referred the matter to the Division Bench vide order dated 04.01.2008 for an authoritative pronounc