Uppara Veerendra Vs State of Andhra Pradesh High Court (Andhra Pradesh High Court)
The batch of Criminal Petitions under Section 482 Cr.P.C. sought quashing of numerous FIRs registered against the petitioners for offences under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA), the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act), the A.P. Excise Act, the A.P. Prohibition Act and, in certain cases, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act). The FIRs primarily related to allegations of manufacture, storage, sale, possession or transportation of gutka, pan masala, khaini and other tobacco products.
The Court noted that earlier coordinate Benches of the High Court, in Crl.P.No.3731 of 2018 and batch and Crl.P.No.5421 of 2019 and batch (Sri Jaganath Enterprises Eluru v. The State of A.P.), had held that chewing tobacco is not “food” within the meaning of Section 3(1)(j) of the FSS Act and had consequently quashed FIRs registered under the FSS Act on similar facts. The earlier decisions, however, observed that prosecution under Sections 5, 6, 7 and 10 of the COTPA could proceed if violations of those provisions were established. The petitioners contended that the present cases were covered by those earlier decisions and were therefore entitled to similar relief.
