The Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted a milkman, who was booked for selling adulterated milk in 1979 and given 6-month jail term along with Rs 1,000 fine.
The top court said that when an accused is made to suffer the penal consequences, the legal provisions of law have to be construed strictly.
A bench of Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopana said that there is a dispute on timely delivery of a report of a public analyst on the milkman which would have enabled him to seek reference to the Central Food Laboratory at Calcutta.
The top court set aside the verdicts of the trial court of 1987 and Allahabad High Court of 2014 holding a Ghaziabad resident Vijendra guilty of provision of Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and sentence of six months jail term. He was on bail.