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3. The appellant have challenged the impugned order inter alia on the grounds among others that the ADM has failed to appreciate the fact that the Referral Food Laboratory, Mysore tested the FAT contents by "Gerber method (IS.1224, 1977)". The Gerber Method adopted by Referral Food Laboratory is not a reliable method for testing milk fat in milk as has been held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Corp. of the City, Nagpur vs. Neetam Manikrao Kature & Others 1998 SCC (Crl.) 564 (SC) and also by the Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat in case titled G.K. Upadhyay Vs. Kanubhai Raimalbhai Rabri 2009 (1) FAC 499 (Gujarat). The report of Referral Food Laboratory, Mysore could not have been relied upon as appellate laboratory adopted an erroneous method for testing the sampled commodity in case of fat and SNF. The report of RFL, Mysore could not have been relied upon by the Ld. ADM while passing the impugned order as Mehsana District Co­Operative Milk Producers Union Ltd. vs. State through, FSO it was based upon "Gerber Method". Both the aforesaid reports were contradictory to each other, as in the Food Analyst report dt. 24.06.2015, the Milk Fat was found to be 5.62% and SNF was found to be 8.60% as against Referral Laboratory report dt. 28.10.2015 wherein milk fat contents was found to be 5.5% and SNF was found to be 9.3%. The Ld. ADM failed to appreciate that the sampling procedure adopted by the FSO was faulty and the counterparts so prepared by the respondent / FSO were also not representative in nature, which resulted in unfair analysis and variance in both the said reports. The analytical error in the aforesaid reports was more than 0.3%, hence, the benefit should have been given to the appellant­ herein. The Ld. ADM failed to appreciate that the appellant was entitled to the benefit of marginal difference / analytical error in analysis as has been observed by the Hon'ble Apex Court. The Laboratory of the Food Analyst, Delhi, is not an accredited laboratory, hence, the said report could have not been relied upon by the ADM. No independent public witness was associated by the FSO during the sampling proceedings.

7. Ld. Chief Public Prosecutor argued that the standards which have been laid down by the legislature are to be followed, which was not so in the case of the appellant herein. The parameters and standards were not followed by the appellant for selling the milk. The substandard milk is to be treated as an adulterated article, even if it has not caused injuries to health. The appellant did not comply with the standards of rules / regulations of Food Safety and Standard Act. The Ld. Chief PP also argued that the Gerber Method used for analysing in the food article i.e. Milk Fat is a DGHS manual method which was printed in the year 1975. It was also argued that the said method is a part of Indian Standard IS­1224­1958 adopted by ISI and further reaffirmed by ISI in the year 1977 onwards. It was further argued that DGHS Manual 2005 at serial No. 1.7.1 and Indian Standard IS:124(Part)(I)­1977 also shows that the Gerber Method is certified method for determination of fat in milk. FSSAI, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in its latest draft manual of method analyses of foods -

Mehsana District Co­Operative Milk Producers Union Ltd. vs. State through, FSO milk and milk products, published in 2012 has also included the Geerber Method for determination of fat content in milk. As such, the Government labs including food safety lab was following the Gerber Method. Therefore, the impugned order has been rightly passed by the Ld.ADM on the basis of the reports and evidence on record. The Ld. Chief PP for the State, in support of his arguments relied upon the judgment in the case of Raj Kumar versus The State of Uttar Pradesh in Criminal Appeal No. 1541 of 2019 decided on 04.10.2019 by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.

13. During arguments, the Ld. Chief PP for the State argued that the Gerber Method used for analysing in the food article i.e. Milk Fat is a DGHS manual method which was printed in the year 1975 and it was also clarified that the method is a part of Indian Standard IS­1224­1958 adopted by ISI and further reaffirmed by ISI in the year 1977 onwards. It was also argued that DGHS Manual 2005 at serial No. 1.7.1 and Indian Standard IS:124(Part)(I)­1977 also shows that the Gerber Method is certified method for determination of fat in milk. FSSAI, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in its latest draft manual of method analyses of foods - milk and milk products, published in 2012 has also included the Geerber Method for determination of fat content in milk. As such, the Government labs including food safety lab was following the Gerber Method. It was found by the Ld. ADM on the basis of the report, relevant provisions of the FSS Act and Regulations that the sample was subsandard and violated the aforesaid provisions of the FSS Act and Regulations.