Bengaluru : The High Court has upheld the 6-month jail sentence imposed by the trial court on Syed Ahmed, the owner of MS Coffee Works in Sakaleshpur, who mixed caffeine content and aqueous extract in coffee powder.
Sakleshpur Food Inspector visited MS Coffee Works owned by Syed Ahmed on June 20, 2008 and inspected the coffee beans and its powder being sold. Also, he had bought 600 grams of coffee powder and sent it for scientific testing.
In this test, adulteration and misbranding of the coffee powder came to light. Also, it was determined to contain 0.4% caffeine and 55.0% water content (solid content remaining as water vapor).
Also, no batch number was mentioned at the time of sale and no expiration date was printed. In this situation, the petitioner had registered a case against Syed. After inspecting the spot, he submitted a request to the district health authorities seeking permission to take legal action against the accused.
Syed denied the allegation but did not provide any evidence. Therefore, the health officials had given permission to take action against the accused. The food inspector investigated the case and submitted the charge sheet to the JMFC court in Sakleshpur.
The court that had inquired about this, sentenced the accused. This was challenged by the petitioner in the 5th Additional District and Sessions Court, Hassan. The Sessions Court dismissed the petition and upheld the order of the JMFC Court which had sentenced him. Later, Syed filed a review petition in the High Court questioning the order of the Sessions Court. The trial court heard the argument and upheld the sentence imposed on the accused. Also, the accused has been directed to appear before the JMFC court in Sakleshpur within 45 days.
