Magistrate can release or not, the house sealed by Food Safety officer under Food Safety and Standards Act

The Hon'ble apex court in the case of Nevada Properties Private Limited Vs. State of Maharashtra, AIR 2019 SC 4554, in para Nos. 20 and 21 held as under:- " 20. Section 102 postulates seizure of the property. Immovable property cannot, in its strict sense, be seized, though documents of title, etc., relating to immovable property can be seized, taken into custody and produced. Immovable property can be attached and also locked/sealed. It could be argued that the word seize would include such action of attachmetn and sealing. Seizure of immovable property in this sense and manner would in law require dispossession of the person in occupation/possession of the immovable property, unless there are no claimants, which would be rare. Language of Section 102 of the Code does not support the interpretation that the police officer has the power to dispossesses a person in occupation and take possession of an immovable proerty in order to seize it. In absence of the Legislature conferring this express or implied power under Section 102 of the Code to the police officer, we would hesitate and not hodl that this power should be inferred and is implicit in the power to the effect seizure.................................. 21. In view of the aforesaid discussion, the Reference is answered by holding that the power of a police officer under Sectuion 102 of the code to seize any property, which may be found under circumtances that create suspicion of the commission of any offence, would not include the power to attach, seize and seal an immovable property." 9. In the context of the law laiddown by the Hon'ble apex Court in the case of Nevada Properties Private Limited (supra), this Court is of the view that power of seizure and forefeiture of immovable property has given to the courts and not to the prosecution authority and if the police officer or other officer has given power to seized the immovable property, it may be chaotic the circumstances. 10. Looking to the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, in the considered opinion of this Court, the trial court as well as revisional court have committed error in rejecting the application filed by the applicant under Section 451 of the Cr.P.C., seeking the direction to the respondents to unlock and open the seized business premises of the applicant without considering the fact that the Food Safety Officer after seizure of food articles from the business premises of the applicant, has already send the one samples of said food articles to State Food Laboratory, Bhopal and remaining food articles were destroyed by him, therefore, no purpose will be served in locking the said business premises of the applicant. Madhya Pradesh High Court Laduram vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 16 January, 2020 Author: Sunil Kumar Awasthi

M.Cr.C.No.51929/2019