Man prepares sweets sans licence, penalised Rs30,000

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 20

Dr Aman Inder Singh, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Chandigarh, has imposed a penalty of Rs30,000 on a person who was found preparing sweets for human consumption without a licence required under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The court also sentenced the convict to undergo imprisonment till the rising of the court. A complaint was filed against the accused by the Food Safety Officer, Chandigarh, under Sections 26(2) (iii) and 31(1) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, punishable under Section 63 of the Act.

In the complaint, the officer said she inspected the premises of accused Shyam Sunder Gupta, proprietor of M/S New Gupta Petha House, Plot No. 172/2, Palsora village, Sector 55, Chandigarh, on September 17, 2018. The officer found that the accused was preparing and selling sweets (petha) without any valid licence.

On the basis of facts available on record, the court served a notice to the accused for the offence on November 19, 2019, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

The counsel for the accused denied charges and alleged that he was falsely implicated in the case. The counsel said neither any sample of food article was collected by the officer nor raw material for preparation was taken into possession. The entire case had been falsely foisted upon the accused.

The public prosecutor argued that the prosecution had proved the case beyond the shadow of doubt.

After hearing the arguments, the court said the prosecution had proved that the accused was found preparing and selling sweets (petha) without having any food licence for human consumption by way of public sale and thereby committed an offence.

“Accordingly, the convict is sentenced to undergo imprisonment till the rising of the court and pay a fine of Rs30,000. In default of the payment of fine, the convict will have to undergo simple imprisonment for one month,” the court said.