In Brief
The appellants were convicted by a trial court for violating the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and sentenced to three months' rigorous imprisonment plus a fine. The High Court upheld the conviction and fine. The Supreme Court confirmed that the conviction and fine were correct, but observed that as the appellants were first offenders with no criminal antecedents, they should be dealt with under Section 360 of the CrPC and granted probation under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958. Accordingly, the Supreme Court set aside the imprisonment but upheld the conviction and fine, directing the trial court to apply probation provisions. The appeal was partly allowed.
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