The Karnataka High Court recently quashed a criminal case filed against Mr. Rohit Jawa, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), in connection with allegedly unsafe samples of Horlicks biscuits. The case was registered under Section 51 and Section 59 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The complaint was initiated by the Food Safety Officer from Hebbal Circle, Bengaluru. It alleged that samples of Horlicks biscuits collected from a local supermarket were unsafe for consumption, containing pesticide Chlorpyrifos beyond permissible levels.
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However, the High Court, while delivering its order, emphasized a crucial legal requirement.
“In the Food, Safety and Standards Act also, when every person who at the time the offence was committed was incharge of and responsible to the company for the conduct of business of the company, then the company as well as such person shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished,” the Court observed.
Justice J.M. Khazi, who presided over the case, noted that in such matters, the company itself must be made an accused along with any individuals such as directors or managing officers. In this particular case, the complaint was filed only against the petitioner, Mr. Jawa, and the company, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, was not named as an accused.
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“Therefore, the presence of the company is necessary in order to hold such person liable. Admittedly, in the present case, the company is not arraigned as an accused and therefore, the petitioner who is sole accused cannot be proceeded against,” the court stated.
Accordingly, the High Court quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against Mr. Jawa. However, the court granted liberty to the complainant to file a fresh complaint, this time including the company as an accused.
“The criminal proceedings against the accused are liable to be quashed. However, the complainant is at liberty to file a fresh complaint by implicating the company also and thereafter proceed further,” the order mentioned.
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The petition filed under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code also pointed out that the prescribed tests under the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 are only applicable to raw ingredients, not to final products like biscuits. It was also argued that the trial court failed to apply its mind before taking cognizance of the complaint.
The High Court noted that similar judgments had earlier emphasized the mandatory requirement to arraign the company as an accused before proceeding against individuals responsible for business operations.
The petition was allowed. The High Court quashed the complaint and any subsequent proceedings against Mr. Jawa.
Case Title:- Rohit Jawa vs. State of Karnataka & Anr.