The High Court of Karnataka has upheld the imposition of lesser punishment by the trial courts on a medical shop owner, who had availed of the benefit of ‘plea bargaining’ and was sentenced to imprisonment till the rising of the court and a fine of ₹10,000 as he had pleaded guilty of the charge of selling a certain drugs in violation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
Justice K. Somashekar passed the order while dismissing a revision petition filed by the Drugs Inspector, Hassan. The imposition of lesser punishment by the Judicial Magistrate First Class in 2015 and its confirmation by the District and Sessions Court, Hassan, was questioned before the High Court.
The proceedings against S.B. Shivakumar, owner of a medical shop in Hassan, were initiated in 2014 based on a complaint lodged by the Drugs Inspector and a charge-sheet was filed after the investigation. It was contended in the petition that the trial courts had erred in awarding imprisonment less then one year without assigning any reason as required in law.
