Gujarat High Court
Agriculture Produce Market Committee vs State Of Gujarat on 23 July, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/SCR.A/2501/2013 ORDER DATED: 23/07/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CRIMINAL APPLICATION (QUASHING) NO. 2501 of 2013
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AGRICULTURE PRODUCE MARKET COMMITTEE & ORS.
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR.
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Appearance:
MR. NILAY A THAKER(7275) for the Applicant(s) No.
1,10,11,12,13,14,15,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
MR.NISARG P RAVAL(7262) for the Applicant(s) No.
1,10,11,12,13,14,15,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
UNSERVED EXPIRED (N) for the Applicant(s) No. 16
MR. TIRTHRAJ PANDYA, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. DOSHI
Date : 23/07/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. After some arguments were advanced, learned advocate for the
petitioners invited the attention of the Court to Section 65 of the
Standards of Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act, 1985
(hereinafter referred to as “the Act” for the sake of brevity), and
submitted that since the present case pertains to a first-time offence,
the same is compoundable under the provisions of the Act.
2. It was further submitted that the petitioners are desirous of
compounding the said offence and shall approach the Controller as
defined under Section 65 of the Act for appropriate proceedings.
3. Upon such submission, learned advocate for the petitioners
prayed that the petitioners may be granted an opportunity to approach
the concerned Controller for compounding of the offence.
4. Learned APP, in view of the factual matrix and submissions
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NEUTRAL CITATION
R/SCR.A/2501/2013 ORDER DATED: 23/07/2025
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advanced, submitted that this Court may pass appropriate orders as it
deems fit.
5. At this juncture, it would be apposite to reproduce Section 65 of
the Act, which reads as under:–
“1) Any offence punishable under section 39, section 40,
section 41, section 42, section 44, section 45, section 46,
section 47, section 48, section 51, section 52, section 54 or
section 59 or any rule made under sub-section (3) of section
72, may either before or after the institution of the
prosecution, be compounded, by the Controller or such other
officer as may be authorised in this behalf by the Controller,
on payment, for credit to the State Government, of such sum
as the Controller or such other officer may specify:
Provided that such sum shall not, in any case, exceed the
maximum amount of the fine which may be imposed under
this Act for the offence so compounded.”
6. The aforesaid Section clearly stipulates that offences punishable
under Sections 39 to 42, 45 to 48, 51 to 54, and Section 59, or any rule
made thereunder, as well as sub-section (3) of Section 72 of the Act,
are compoundable–either before or after the institution of
prosecution–by the Controller or such other officer as may be duly
authorized in this behalf, provided that it is a first offence or, in the
case of multiple offences, that no such or similar offence has been
committed by the offender within the preceding three years.
7. In light of the above statutory scheme, the present petition
stands disposed of with a direction to the petitioners to approach the
Controller or the officer duly authorized to compound the offence, as
envisaged under Section 65 of the Act.
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NEUTRAL CITATION
R/SCR.A/2501/2013 ORDER DATED: 23/07/2025
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8. The Controller or the authorized officer, as the case may be,
shall consider and decide the application for compounding in
accordance with law and bearing in mind the scope and mandate of
Section 65 of the Act, provided that such application is preferred by
the petitioners and the liquidator within a period of four weeks from
the date of this order.
9. If such an application is filed within the stipulated time and
intimation thereof, along with copies, is furnished to the learned trial
Court, the trial Court shall defer further proceedings in the matter until
a decision on compounding the offence is taken by the competent
authority.
10. Direct service is permitted.
(J. C. DOSHI,J)
MANISH MISHRA
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