Bombay HC Quashes Case Against Raymond CMD Over Fabric Package Not Containing Proper Declaration Under Legal Metrology Act

The Bombay High Court at Nagpur Bench comprising Justice GA Sanap has quashed the criminal case against the Chairman and Managing Director of Raymond Ground, filed due to a cardboard package of Raymond fabric at a store in Nagpur not having the requisite declaration. 

In that context, the Court observed that "In the facts and circumstances, the vicarious liability of the Managing Director/Director would arise by deeming fiction and, therefore, the necessary averments are required to be made in the complaint to fasten the vicarious liability on the Directors. Perusal of the complaint and particularly para No.7 thereof, would show that the averments are as vague as the vagueness could be." 

Counsel HV Thakur appeared for the applicant, while APP Amit Chutke appeared for the State.

In this case, the Inspector of Legal Metrology discovered a package made of cardboard at Reliance Trends in Nagpur. The package contained Raymond fabric but did not include essential information such as the name of the product, details of the manufacturer and packer, and the number of pieces. As a result, the inspector confiscated the package and served Raymond with a compounding notice. However, the company contested the allegations.

The High Court noted that the averments showed that besides stating the name of the company, it was been pleaded in generalized form that the accused is either owner or partner or director of the company. In that context, it was observed that "no specific averments have been made to attribute any role in any capacity to the applicant and as such, fasten the liability for prosecution on the accused". 

Further, the Court observed that as per Section 49 of the Legal Metrology Act, there required to be an establishment of the prima facie involvement of the accused in the offence. However, the Court found that the order of legal proceedings could not be justified since the order had been issued without proper consideration. 

Accordingly, the application was disposed of.

Cause Title: Gautam Hari Singhania v. State of Maharashtra

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