New Delhi, Sept. 12 – In a sharp rebuke to enforcement practices, the Supreme Court has overturned a Karnataka authority’s seizure of 7,600 “Classmate” exercise book cartons belonging to ITC Limited. The Court ruled that officials violated mandatory safeguards under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) by conducting the 2020 warehouse raid without a warrant or recorded reasons.
Background
ITC, which markets Classmate notebooks and stationery, faced a sudden inspection on 2 July 2020 at its Nelamangala warehouse near Bengaluru. Officers seized thousands of corrugated fibreboard containers, alleging missing printed declarations required on wholesale packages. A single-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court quashed the seizure, but a division bench later restored it, prompting ITC’s appeal to the Supreme Court.
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Court’s Observations
Justice R. Mahadevan, writing for the bench, noted that Section 15 of the Legal Metrology Act allows searches only when there is a recorded “reason to believe” of a violation and mandates adherence to CrPC safeguards. “Any officer intending to conduct a search or inspection and effect a seizure must necessarily follow the prescribed procedure and cannot forcibly enter premises without warrant or reasons duly recorded,” the bench observed.
The Court highlighted that only one witness- an employee of the enforcement officer- was present, violating the CrPC requirement of two independent local witnesses. It also found no proof that the seized goods differed from their labels, terming the alleged rule breach “at best, technical.”
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Decision
Finding “clear procedural violations,” the Supreme Court quashed the seizure notices and the Karnataka High Court’s division bench ruling, restoring the earlier single-judge order in ITC’s favour. “Compliance with statutory procedures…is incumbent upon officials; non-compliance renders the action futile,” the bench concluded, effectively ending the case at the court’s decision itself.
Case: ITC Limited vs. State of Karnataka & Another
Citation: 2025 INSC 1111
Decision Date: 12 September 2025
