Absence of evidence to support charges under the Karnataka Excise Act leads to the quashment of proceedings.

ORAL ORDER

Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the material on record.

2. A perusal of material on record will indicate that the petitioner in Crl.P.No.12415/2023 is arraigned as accused No.2 and she is the owner of the building while the petitioner in Crl.P.No.12497/2023 is the owner of the bakery in which the subject goods (wine bottles) were confiscated by the respondent. So also, the petitioner in Crl.P.No.12534/2024 is the Manager of the aforesaid bakery. It is the matter of record that the subject bakery in question is M/s. Fathima Bakery which has been in existence for almost 70 years as on today.

3. A perusal of material on record will indicate that on

07.10.2020, there was a raid on the aforesaid premises by the respondent, pursuant to which FIR was lodged and culminated in a charge sheet dated 05.08.2021 and the petitioners are CRL.P No. 12534 of 2023 before this Court seeking quashment of the impugned proceedings.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioners invited my attention to the material on record which indicates that the seized items comprising of wine bottles were for the limited purpose of manufacturing bakery products in the subject premises and the same was found to be unfit for human consumption and consequently, the petitioners are not guilty of the offences alleged against them. It is pointed out that the 2 bottles, each having about 750 ml of liquor which were seized from the subject premises having been found to be unfit for human consumption it cannot be said that petitioners had violated the provisions of the Karnataka Excise Act and consequently, in the absence of necessary ingredients to constitute the offences under the Karnataka Excise Act , 1965, the impugned proceedings deserves to be quashed. It is also submitted that apart from the fact that the petitioners in Crl.P.No.12415/2023 and Crl.P.No.12497/2023 are only the owners of the building and the bakery respectively who had nothing to do with the seized articles, the petitioner in Crl.P.No.12534/2023 also was only a Manager of the bakery CRL.P No. 12534 of 2023 and as such, the impugned proceedings against all the petitioners - accused deserves to be quashed.

5. Per contra, learned Addl. SPP for the respondent-

State submits that there is no merit in the petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.

6. A perusal of the material on record would indicate that the only allegation made against all the accused is that during the time of raid, 2 bottles of liquor (wine) were seized from the subject premises. The specific allegation made against the petitioners is that they are guilty of the offences punishable under the aforesaid provisions of the Karnataka Excise Act . However, in light of the findings recorded in the FSL report to the effect that the aforesaid liquor seized from the subject premises was unfit for human consumption, the only inference that can be drawn from the said facts and circumstances would be that the same was being used only for the purpose of manufacturing of bakery products in the subject premises which has been undisputedly being used for the purpose of running a bakery for the last 70 years.

CRL.P No. 12534 of 2023

7. Under these circumstances, in the absence of sufficient material to incriminate the petitioners for the offences alleged against them coupled with the other material on record, in particular the FSL report, I am of the view that the continuation of the impugned proceedings as against the petitioners would amount to abuse of the process of law warranting interference by this Court in the present petition.

8. Accordingly, I pass the following:

ORDER

i. Criminal petitions are a