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MANDEEP PANNU, J.

1. Present petition has been filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. for quashing of impugned Complaint No. 1 dated 04.01.2021 under Sections 3(k)(i), 17, 18, 29 and 33 of the Insecticides Act, 1968 read with Rule 27(5) of the Insecticides Rules, 1971, titled as “State Vs. M/s Tarandeep Kissan Khushali Kendra and others”, pending adjudication before the Court of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Fatehgarh Sahib, along with summoning order dated 04.01.2021 and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom qua the petitioners.

2. Before discussing the facts of the present case, it is relevant to mention here that petitioner Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are the marketers. Petitioner No. 1 namely Rajesh Singh is the Godown Incharge of marketer company M/s SDS Ramicides Crop Science Pvt. Ltd., Petitioner No. 3 namely Ramesh Kumar Mehla is the Manager of the aforesaid company i.e. M/s SDS Ramicides Crop Science Pvt. Ltd. The said company has been impleaded as petitioner No. 2 through petitioner No. 1. It is further pertinent to mention that petitioner Nos. 4 and 5 are the manufacturers. Petitioner No. 4 namely S. Parthasarathy is the Manager of M/s SDS Ramicides Crop Science Pvt. Ltd., whereas petitioner No. 5 namely R. Gopal is the Director of the said company and is the manufacturer. In nutshell, the marketers as well as the manufacturers have jointly filed the present petition seeking quashing of the impugned complaint, summoning order and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom.

3. Brief facts necessary for adjudication of the present petition are that the dealer firm namely M/s Tarandeep Kissan Khushali Kendra, Morinda Road, Chunni Kalan, District Fatehgarh Sahib was inspected by the Insecticide Inspector on 05.02.2020 and samples of insecticide Thiamethoxam 30% FS bearing Batch No. SDSRP019802, manufacturing date 20.09.2018 and expiry date 19.09.2020 were collected from the said dealer. The said product was manufactured by M/s SDS Ramicides Crop Science Pvt. Ltd., Chennai and was marketed/supplied through its Sales Centre/Godown situated at R.K. Warehouse, Alamgir, Ludhiana. The dealer namely M/s Tarandeep Kissan Khushali Kendra was selling the said insecticide in the ordinary course of business. Thereafter, one sealed sample portion was sent to the Insecticide Testing Laboratory, Ludhiana on 06.02.2020 for analysis. The analysis report dated 26.02.2020 was thereafter received, wherein the sample was declared misbranded as the active ingredient contents were found to be 14.79% instead of prescribed Thiamethoxam 30%. Thereafter, show-cause notice dated 14.05.2020 was issued to the dealer firm for violation of the provisions of the Insecticides Act, 1968. In response thereto, the dealer submitted replies dated 20.05.2020 and 22.05.2020 and requested for re-testing of the reference sample from the Central Insecticides Laboratory, Faridabad. Subsequently, the dealer deposited the re-testing fee and informed the authorities vide letter dated 05.08.2020. Thereafter, vide communication dated 10.08.2020, the dealer was informed to get the reference sample re-tested through the Court before expiry of the shelf life of the sample. Accordingly, an application for re-testing was filed before the learned Court on 18.08.2020 and the learned Court vide order dated 18.09.2020 directed re-testing of the reference sample from the Central Insecticides Laboratory, Faridabad. Thereafter, show-cause notice dated 08.10.2020 was issued to the manufacturing/marketing company i.e. petitioners and to its responsible officials regarding failure of the sample. In response thereto, the petitioners submitted their reply dated 22.10.2020 along with their own analysis report. Thereafter, the competent authority accorded sanction/consent under Section 31(1) of the Insecticides Act vide letter dated 07.12.2020 for launching prosecution against the accused persons and consequently, complaint No. 1 dated 04.01.2021 came to be filed before