Pesticide in fertiliser: Company not made party; case against MD quashed

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A case against the managing director of Pavan Agro Agencies, a fertiliser manufacturer from Belgavai was quashed by the High Court of Karnataka. It was accused that the fertiliser produced by the company contained pesticides.

Though the MD Shivaprasad Talvar was made an accused, the company itself was not. Therefore the HC quashed the case against him. A private complaint was filed by one RB Naik, the assistant director of Agriculture and Inspector of Seeds, Agriculture Department against Talvar.

It was alleged that Toggle Plus, manufactured by the company, was sent to the analyst for a test and the report said that it contained pesticides. The Magistrate court in Belagavi registered the case against Talvar under Section 29 of the Insecticides Act Talvar challenged this in the High Court.

The counsel for Talvar argued that he was the managing director of the company but the company itself was not arraigned as an accused. Therefore Talvar as managing director cannot be held vicariously guilty. The Government advocate argued that the Magistrate had rightly taken cognisance against Talvar.

Justice Hemant Candangoudar who heard the petition said in his judgement, “Section 33 of the Act specifies that whenever an offence under this Act has been committed by the Company, every person who at the time of the offence was committed was in-charge or responsible to the company for conduct of the business of the company as well as the company shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence.

In the present case, offence aforesaid is committed by the company and the complaint is filed without arraying the company as accused to the complaint and the same is not maintainable, since the petitioner, who is Managing Director of the company cannot be held variously guilty of the offence.

Resultantly, the complaint filed by the respondent without arraying the company as accused is not maintainable.” Allowing Talvar’s petition, the HC quashed the proceedings against him pending before the Magistrate court in Belagavi.