Benefit of probation may be extended to first-time offenders under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

The applicants were found in unauthorized possession of 130 liters of kerosene intended for the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) without a valid license

In 2017, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nadiad, convicted them in Criminal Case No. 8859 of 2006, a decision upheld by the 5th Additional Sessions Judge, Nadiad, in 2018

Both courts sentenced the applicants to one year of simple imprisonment and a fine of ₹1,000 under the Essential Commodities Act

The applicants filed a revision application before the High Court, which suspended the sentence in 2018

During final hearing, the applicants limited their plea to seeking the benefit of probation, noting the lapse of time and their clean conduct since the offense

1. Whether the court should exercise its discretionary power under Section 360 of the CrPC to grant the benefit of probation to the convicts in a case involving the Essential Commodities Act

Section 360 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), which permits administrative release on probation for offenders convicted of crimes punishable by fine or imprisonment up to seven years

Section 7(1)(a)(ii) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the Kerosene (Restriction on Use and Fixation of Ceiling Price) Order, 1993

Precedent set in Tarak Nath Kesari v. State of West Bengal (2023) and Lakhvir Singh v. State of Punjab (2021), which established that relief of probation may be granted even for old offenses if the accused has maintained a clean record over several decades

The court observed that while the applicants were guilty of diverting PDS kerosene, the offense occurred nearly two decades ago (2006)

The court noted that although judiciaries are typically "slow" to grant probation in essential commodity cases due to the impact on public beneficiaries, the specific circumstances justified leniency

Specifically, the applicants were first-time offenders with no reported criminal antecedents since the original conviction

Following the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Tarak Nath Kesari, the court concluded that since the sentence imposed was within the seven-year limit required by Section 360 CrPC and the applicants had maintained peace and good behavior, there was no distinct reason to deprive them of the benefit of probation

The applicants are required to enter into bonds and furnish fresh sureties before the trial court to ensure peace and good behavior for the remainder of the period

The R. & P. were ordered to be sent back to the lower courts immediately