At least 6-month jail for selling adulterated food: Parliamentary panel

The committee also observed that "most cases under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, are acquitted because of procedural lapses in sample collection, etc."

The offence of food adulteration is “inadequate” in the government-proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a parliamentary panel has said, recommending a minimum imprisonment of six months for those selling adulterated food or drinks along with a minimum fine of Rs 25,000. Currently, under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 272, which has been unchanged in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the offence of food adulteration is punishable with a term extending to six months, or with a fine extending to Rs 1,000, or with both.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Home Affairs, in its report on Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, submitted to the Rajya Sabha on Friday, asked the government to make the punishment for adulteration more stringent given “the serious health issues” that could result from consuming adulterated food.

For the offence of “sale of noxious food and drinks”, the committee, which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Lal heads, recommended a minimum punishment of six months and with a minimum fine of Rs 10,000.

The IPC’s Section 273, which is unchanged in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, prescribes minimum punishment that may extend to six months and/or a fine of Rs 1,000 or both.

The committee also observed that “most cases under the Prevention of Food Adulteration, 1954, are acquitted because of procedural lapses in sample collection, etc.” The committee found that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita contained “some typographical and grammatical errors” and observed, “that even a single typographical or grammatical error in the Sanhita has the potential to be misinterpreted and diluting the intent of the provision.” It asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to rectify the errors. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS 2023) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11 along with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS 2023) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA 2023) Bills.

The three proposed laws seek to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure Act of 1898, the Indian Penal Code of 1860, and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872.

The panel’s reports include dissent notes from several of its opposition members, including Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien, who said that nearly 93 per cent of the existing criminal law “remains unaltered, 18 out of 22 chapters have been copy pasted in these new Bills”, which “implies that the pre-existing legislation could have been effortlessly modified to incorporate these specific changes.”