JUDGMENT :

ABDUL SHAHID, J.

1. Heard Sri Amrendra Pratap Singh, learned counsel for the appellant, and the learned A.G.A. for the State. The record has been perused.

2. The present criminal appeal has been filed on behalf of the appellant, Pitambar Das, against the impugned judgment and order dated 20.05.1988 passed by the learned Special Judge, E.C. Act, Budaun, in Special Trial Case No. 8 of 1987 (State vs. Pitambar Das), whereby he has been convicted and sentenced to undergo two years’ rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/- under Sections 3/7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

3. The basic prosecution case is that the accused, Pitambar Das, was challenged by the police of Bisauli to stand trial for the offence punishable under Sections 3/7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to, for the sake of convenience, as the “Act, 1955”), on the allegation that he was storing 12 quintals of wheat for illegal purposes. This was detected during an inspection conducted by Sri S.P. Dasmana, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Bisauli, on 30.05.1984 at the Purchasing Centre of the U.P. Food Corporation of India (hereinafter referred to as the “Purchasing Centre”