General authorisation for prosecution consent was valid under the food adulteration law before amendment.

Under section 20(1) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, as it stood before amendment, the State Government or local authority could validly issue a general authorisation empowering a person to grant written consent for prosecutions without linking that authorisation to a specified individual offence. The expression "in this behalf" was read as referring to the power to grant consent for prosecutions under the Act, and the provision was treated as permitting a practical general delegation consistent with the statutory purpose. The later amendment was viewed as clarificatory. The challenge to the prosecution on this ground failed, and the conviction and sentence remained undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether, under section 20(1) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 as it stood before amendment, the State Government could validly authorise a person by a general order to grant written consent for prosecutions without referring to a specified individual offence.

Analysis: The language of the unamended provision did not require the authorisation to be tied to a particular case. The expression "in this behalf" was read as referring to the power to give written consent for prosecutions under the Act, and not as restricting the authorisation to individual offences. The provision was also viewed as intended to avoid the need for the Government or local authority to deal separately with every prosecution, so a general authorisation better served the statutory purpose. The later amendment was treated as clarifying what the section already contemplated.

Conclusion: The general authorisation contained in the notification was held to be valid, and the challenge to the prosecution on that ground failed.

Final Conclusion: The conviction and sentence were left undisturbed and the appeal was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: Under section 20(1) of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, even before amendment, the State Government or local authority could issue a general authorisation to a person to grant written consent for prosecutions under the Act without specifying an individual offence.

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