The Legal Metrology Act, 2009 is the primary instrument which establishes and enforces the standards of weights and measures and regulates trade in weights and measures in the country.

The Department of Consumer Affairs, which administers the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, has invited comments on various proposed amendments to the Act. Given the importance of this exercise as also its large-scale impact across society, this stakeholder consultation exercise is being conducted, in order to develop consensus.

NextElection has created a simple survey to help citizens provide their feedback to the government regarding the proposed amendments to the Act. All responses received will be collated and will be emailed to the Ministry without your personal details.

Background#

The Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (“the Act”) is the primary instrument which establishes and enforces the standards of weights and measures and regulates trade in weights and measures in the country. Chapter V of the Act sets out the various offences and penalties under the Act.  The offences under this Act are criminal offences and prescribe imprisonment as a punishment for violation of the Act.

Whenever any violation is observed by an Inspector (Legal Metrology Officer) during inspection or on a complaint, as the case may be, he issues a notice to the person concerned with the violation and if the person to whom notice is issued, agrees with the notice, he may compound the offence by paying the compounding fee and the case will be closed. 

If the person to whom notice is issued does not agree with the charges made by the Inspector, he may appeal under section 50 of the Act against the decision/ order of Legal Metrology officer to the Controller of Legal Metrology and against the orders of Controller to the State Government. 

In case of non-compounding of offence and if no appeal is filed to the Controller or State Government, the Inspector (LMO) may file the case in the Court of Law to initiate legal proceedings.  The Court decides the case either by upholding the case or by rejecting the charges made by the Inspector.

Under the Legal Metrology Act when a case is booked either on first offence or second or subsequent offence, there is no provision of arrest.   The cases booked by the Inspector, Legal Metrology (LMO) in case of non- compounding, are filed in the Court of Law, and the Court after following the due procedure summons the offenders, who may be present personally or through an Advocate.  However, if the Court summons the person to be present personally and if he fails to be present, the Court may again summon or issue warrant.  In case of warrant, the person needs Bail.

Criminal offence often requires the standard of proof to be beyond reasonable doubt, a much higher threshold than the standard adopted for civil wrongs. Many critics have, therefore, questioned the efficiency of criminal law in dealing with misconduct; many offences which are of technical nature could be shifted to civil liability from criminal liability.

The offences which can be decriminalised should not have (i) Mens rea (malafide/ criminal intent– therefore, it is critical to evaluate the nature of non-compliance i.e. fraud as compared to negligence or inadvertent omission; and (ii) where the larger public interest is affected adversely. 

Therefore, there is a need to review the civil and criminal penalties under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, considering their suitability for the imposition of criminal liability.  This exercise requires a review and categorisation of both compoundable and non-compoundable offences under the Act.

Thus, as stated in para-2 above, at present the Legal Metrology Act provides that for an order passed by a Legal Metrology Officer of the State Government the appeal lies before the Controller and against the orders of the Controller an appeal may be made before the State Government. 

To sum up it needs to be examined whether second or subsequent offence should be retained in its current form or limited to a fine, converted into a civil penalty, dealt with by an alternate mechanism or omitted altogether.  If the offender does not compound the offence, then the Inspector (LMO) can take further action for cancellation of the licence or permit obtained from the concerned Central Government/ State Government/ Authority under the Central/ State Government. The suitability of existing penal and adjudicatory mechanisms, as well as the feasibility of alternate mechanisms would need to be explored from the perspective of ensuring speedy and effective enforcement, at the same time ensuring that the Legal Metrology Act remains effective.  The proposed fine is maximum prescribed and the State Governments may fix the fine considering the nature and gravity of the offence.

The Department has received suggestions from various sources and has enumerate the proposed changes. Given the importance of this exercise as also its large-scale impact across society, this stakeholder consultation exercise is being conducted, in order to develop consensus. The Department of Consumer Affairs, which administers the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, therefore, invites the comments of State Governments/ UT Administrations, Civil Society/ Non-Government Organisations, Academicians, Public and Private Sector organisations, Multilateral Institutions and members of the public to submit their comments on the proposed amendments to the Department.