P&H: Quashes Case Against Dealer Under Insecticides Act, Cites Statutory Defence And Six-Year Delay
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed a criminal complaint and summoning order against a pesticide dealer and its proprietor, invoking the statutory defence under Section 30(3) of the Insecticides Act, 1968, and noting an unexplained delay of nearly six years in filing the complaint.
The case arose from a 2012 sampling of Butachlor 50% EC from originally sealed containers at the premises of M/s Bajaj Agro, Sirhind. The first laboratory reported deviation in active ingredient, while a re-analysis by the Central Insecticides Laboratory found the active ingredient marginally above the declared level. In 2018, the State filed a...
