Tea stalks or stems are not foreign to tea and tea containing stalks is not adulterated tea.

( 1 ) THESE are two appeals from convictions by a Municipal Magistrate.

( 2 ) THE three appellants were charged under Section 407 read with Section 489, Calcutta Municipal Act with storing, exposing and offering for sale tea which on analysis had been found to be adulterated with foreign matter. All the three accused were found guilty and convicted and Rambhai Patel and Manibhai Patel were each sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two months, and Jashbhai Patel, who was the seller of the tea, was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs. 300. In default he was to undergo simple imprisonment for thirty days. It is from these convictions and sentences that the present appeals have been preferred.

( 3 ) THE appellants Rambhai Patel and Manibhai Patel are partners of a firm carrying on business of tea merchants and Jashbhai Patel was actually concerned in the sale of this tea.

( 4 ) OFFICERS of the Corporation visited a godown of this firm and took samples of tea stored therein. This tea was analysed and it was found that one sample contained a fair proportion of tea stalks or stems and the other sample a profuse quantity of tea stems or stalks. The analyst, however does not give the proportion of stalks to the total quantity in either of his reports. It is, however, clear that this tea on chemical analysis contained nothing but what tea should contain. All that is said is that the tea stored and sold by this firm contained tea stems or stalks and that being so the prosecution contended that it was adulterated tea and the storage and exposing and selling of the same was accordingly an offence.

( 5 ) THE defence was that all tea contains a certain quantity of stalks or stems and further that these stalks or stems formed part of the tea-leaf and, therefore, there was no adulteration of any kind. Further it was contended that in any event these tea stems or stalks could not be regarded as foreign matter.

( 6 ) SECTION 407, Calcutta Municipal Act provides :" No person shall directly or indirectly, himself or by any other person on his behalf, sell, expose, or hawk about for sale or manufacture, or store for sale, any of the following articles namely- (f) tea, unless the following conditions are fulfilled, namely, (vi) in the case of tea -it shall be the leaves and leaf buds or species of thea, prepared by fermenting, drying and firing ; it shall not contain any tea which has been in any measure deprived of its proper quality, strength or virtue by steeping, infusion, decoction or other means or any foreign matter. "

( 7 ) ANY tea containing any foreign matter would be hit by this section and the only question which the Court has to decide is whether the tea found in this godown, one sample of which contained a fair proportion of terms (stems?) or stalks, and the other a profuse quantity, was tea containing foreign matter. If it was the charge was made out. If it was not the accused are not guilty.

( 8 ) ALL that the analyst said was that the sample contained these stalks which he said amounted to foreign matter. A tea taster was called by the defence who stated that all tea contained stalks and that stalk was not foreign to tea. The learned Municipal Magistrate) however, was of opinion that the stalk was foreign to tea and stalks, therefore, could be regarded as foreign matter added to the tea.

( 9 ) SPEAKING for myself I find it very difficult to come to the conclusion that tea stems or stalks are foreign to tea. I have myself drunk tea for 40 or 45 years and I do not think that I have ever had tea and even good quality tea that did not contain some percentage of stalks. According to the tea taster called by the defence tea must contain stalks and I think that is the experience of every tea-drinker except possibly the Municipal Magistrate.

( 10 ) FOREIGN matter must mean matter alien to tea and it is somewhat difficult to come to the conclusion that this stem or stalk is alien to the tea-leaf or tea-bud. The te