Wholesaler's seized gutka and pan masala kept under food-safety ban
Police seized stocks of gutka and pan masala from a wholesale shop in Diphu market in May 2020. The trader asked for interim custody of the perishable goods. The Gauhati High Court on 10 March 2022 upheld the trial court's refusal to return them while the state ban was in force.
This page records what the cited court records say happened. Findings belong to the court or authority that made them; this register adds none of its own. Names of private individuals are withheld unless a naming gate clears them.
How we verify →Seizure retained; revision disposed of with liberty to challenge the ban notifications separately.
What happened
The High Court recorded that the petitioner runs a wholesale outlet in Diphu market and that officers searched it in May 2020 and took stocks of flavoured mixes and tobacco packs.
The High Court recorded the petitioner's prayer for interim custody of the seized goods, described as praying for zimma of seized articles like Pan Masala, Gutka, etc., on the ground they were perishable.
The High Court recorded that the State relied on the Food Safety Commissioner's power to prohibit manufacture, storage and distribution in the interest of public health, and on notifications dated 29.11.2019, 12.01.2021 and 27.01.2022 continuing the statewide bar.
The High Court declined to interfere with the trial court's refusal to release the goods and disposed of the revision with liberty to challenge the notifications before the competent forum.
What the record says
“there is no illegality in the order so passed by the learned trial Court”
Crl.Rev.P./12/2022, Gauhati High Court, order dated 10.03.2022 — read the full text
No complaining victim
The only allegation was sale and storage of gutka and pan masala in breach of a food-safety ban; no victim, violence, fraud, or spurious product was alleged.
What we could not confirm
Exact quantities and value of seized stocks could not be confirmed from the excerpt. No more recent pure COTPA or gutka-ban case from Assam was found; recent Assam tobacco cases involved smuggled or foreign cigarettes or added theft charges.