Karnataka HC Quashes PDS Rice Case Against Man Named By Co-Accused, Finding No Link To The Crime

A Food Inspector reported that 80 bags of rice, allegedly meant for distribution under the Public Distribution System (PDS), were being transported in a vehicle.

After the driver and others were arrested, the petitioner, Iranna, was implicated based on a co-accused’s voluntary statement.

The petitioner sought to quash the proceedings under Sections 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, contending that the charge-sheet disclosed no act connecting him to the alleged offence.

The charge-sheet had been filed in the case, which was pending before the V Additional JMFC, Kalaburagi.

The petition invoked the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, corresponding to Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, to seek quashing of the proceedings.

The alleged offences were under Sections 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

The Court applied the principle that an accused should not be connected to a crime merely because a co-accused named them; the prosecution must show a “live link” between the accused and the alleged crime.

No precedent was cited.

The Court examined the charge-sheet material and found that the petitioner had been implicated on the basis of a co-accused’s voluntary statement.

It concluded that the prosecution had not produced material establishing a live link between the petitioner and the alleged diversion of PDS rice.

In the absence of such a connection, the Court considered that requiring the petitioner to face trial would not be justified.

The pending application was also disposed of as no longer surviving.