The Calcutta High Court recently acquitted a man who was convicted thirty years ago under the Essential Commodities Act for carrying three bags of paddy on his cycle without a license [Chandra Mohan Roy v The State of West Bengal]. .Justice Ananya Bandyopadhyay held that the oral and documentary evidence fail to establish that the accused Chandra Mohan Roy had purchased the paddy for trading or selling to other people. “Apart from assertion of 6 maunds of rice to be recovered from the possession of the appellant [Roy], the same was not weighed or quantified. Mere suspicion of assumption cannot lead to the conviction of the appellant in dearth of proper evidence,” the Court noted. Hence, it set aside the conviction order passed by a special court in 1995. “In view of the above discussions, the judgment and order dated 30.12.1995 passed by the Learned Judge, Special Court, Dakshin Dinajpur at Balurghat in Special Case No.26 of 1991 is set aside," the Court said. .Roy was arrested in December 1991 on allegations that he bought six maunds of paddy (around 225 kilograms) from Thakurpura hat for the purpose of business. When asked, he failed to produce any license or authority for dealing in paddy, as required under the law. The police officials seized the paddy along with his cycle and other articles and took him into custody. In 1995, he was convicted under Section 7(1)(a)(ii) of the Essential Commodities Act and ordered to undergo rigorous imprisonment of six months a pay a fine of ₹500. He filed an appeal against his conviction in 1996. The Essential Commodities Act gives the government the power to regulate and control the production, supply, distribution and trade of certain essential commodities. .The government maintained that its case had been proved beyond reasonable doubt. Advocate Monami Mukherjee appeared as amicus curiae in the matter and argued that the FIR did not disclose commission of any cognisable offence. After hearing the case, the High Court set aside Roy’s conviction. .Advocate Monami Mukherjee appeared as amicus curiae in the case. Advocates Faria Hossain and Mamta Jana appeared for the State..[Read Judgment]
