Sale of noxious food or drink
Section 273 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 deals with sale of noxious food or drink. Whoever sells, or offers or exposes for sale, as food or drink, any article which has been rendered or has become noxious, or is in a state unfit for food or drink, knowing or having reason to believe that the same is noxious as food or drink, shall be punished with imprisonment of either descriptio The Act came into force on 01 Jan 1862. Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.
Whoever sells, or offers or exposes for sale, as food or drink, any article which has been rendered or has become noxious, or is in a state unfit for food
or drink, knowing or having reason to believe that the same is noxious as food or drink, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
Section 273, The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860).
Now in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
BNS 275 Sale of noxious food or drink Text carried over almost unchanged 99%
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
Referred to by 5
- Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act s. 346
- Gujarat Municipalities Act s. 211
- Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act s. 527A
- Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act s. 490 Penalty for possessing food which appears to be diseased, unsound or unwholesome or unfit for human food
- Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act s. 11
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Ram Nath vs The State of Uttar Pradesh
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When an act or omission constitutes an offence under both the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Sections 272 and 273 of the Indian Penal Code, the provisions of the FSSA have overriding effect over the IPC provisions by virtue of Section 89 of the FSSA. Therefore, prosecution should proceed only under the FSSA, specifically Section 59, and not under the IPC provisions. The FSSA being comprehensive legislation with exhaustive substantive and procedural provisions for dealing with food safety offences, including more stringent punishments and specialized procedures, is the appropriate and exclusive remedy for food adulteration and unsafe food violations.
On this section: Establishes offence of selling food rendered noxious or unfit; requires knowledge or reasonable belief; same punishment as Section 272
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Ram Nath vs The State of Uttar Pradesh
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When an act or omission constitutes an offence of food adulteration or dealing with unsafe food, the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, specifically Section 59, will have overriding effect over Sections 272 and 273 of the Indian Penal Code by virtue of Section 89 of the FSSA. Therefore, prosecution for such offences must proceed under the FSSA framework rather than under the IPC, and simultaneous prosecution under both statutes is not permissible. The FSSA provides a comprehensive and exhaustive legislative framework for food safety with more stringent penalties and procedural safeguards than the IPC, and was enacted specifically to consolidate and replace the multiplicity of food-related laws that existed prior to its enactment.
On this section: Sale of noxious food or drink - requires knowledge or reasonable belief that food is noxious; Court noted this is narrower than FSSA Section 59
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Ram Nath vs The State of Uttar Pradesh
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When an act of food adulteration or dealing with unsafe food constitutes an offence under both Sections 272 and 273 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 59 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the provisions of the FSSA shall have overriding effect by virtue of Section 89 of the FSSA. Therefore, prosecution must proceed exclusively under the FSSA regime, and there cannot be simultaneous prosecution under both the IPC and FSSA. The FSSA being comprehensive, exhaustive legislation consolidating all food-related laws with more stringent punishments and procedural safeguards, the IPC provisions are excluded from application in food safety matters covered by the FSSA.
On this section: Establishes offence of selling noxious food with knowledge or reasonable belief; punishment up to 6 months or fine up to Rs. 1000
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Ram Nath vs The State of Uttar Pradesh
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When an act or omission constitutes an offence of food adulteration under both Sections 272-273 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 59 of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, the provisions of the FSSA shall have overriding effect by virtue of Section 89 of FSSA. Consequently, there shall be no simultaneous prosecution under both statutes; the prosecution must proceed exclusively under the FSSA framework which provides more comprehensive and stringent provisions for dealing with unsafe food offences. The IPC provisions for food adulteration are superseded by the FSSA for all food safety matters covered by the FSSA.
On this section: Sale of noxious food or drink - establishes offence with maximum punishment of 6 months imprisonment or Rs. 1,000 fine
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G. Srinivas Krishna vs State of Karnataka
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Once a chargesheet has been filed, a Special Leave Petition challenging the underlying criminal proceedings cannot be maintained without directly challenging the chargesheet itself. The appropriate forum and remedy for challenging a chargesheet is not the Supreme Court via SLP but the trial court or through criminal revision, and the Supreme Court will dispose of an SLP where the chargesheet is not directly challenged and no independent legal question survives.
On this section: Non-cognizable offence related to handling poisonous substances; final charge in chargesheet
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Sri M Devaraju vs State by Anekal Excise Inspector
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
In a Special Leave Petition against a criminal conviction affirmed by the High Court, the Supreme Court will not interfere unless there exists a substantial error of law, violation of constitutional principles, or procedural irregularity affecting the fairness of trial. When both lower courts concur in upholding a conviction, the apex court exercises restraint absent compelling jurisdictional or legal grounds for intervention.
On this section: Section 273 IPC was invoked as an additional charge resulting in conviction. The substantive elements or interpretation of this section are not elaborated in the order.
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Md. Shasuzzaman Sheikh vs State Of Assam
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The penalties under the Food Safety and Standard Act and Section 273 IPC are attracted only when unsafe food is manufactured for sale, stored for sale, or distributed for human consumption, not during mere transportation for further processing or non-edible use.
On this section: Applied to check if sale of noxious food or cheating occurred.
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Prabhat Pandey @ Mr. Prabhat Pandey vs The State of Bihar
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
In cases where a vehicle is seized in connection with drunken driving but no liquor is recovered from the vehicle, the confiscating authority must record a positive finding on the applicability of Section 56 of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 before passing any confiscation order. The confiscating authority must decide this issue as a preliminary matter before proceeding with confiscation. The reasonable time period for completing confiscation proceedings under Section 58 of the Act is three months. Provisional release of seized vehicles should be granted pending completion of confiscation proceedings in cases where the vehicle is not liable to be confiscated or where there is inordinate delay.
On this section: Sale of adulterated drugs or liquor
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Munna Kumar vs The State of Bihar
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
In cases involving seizure of assets in excise violation proceedings, where a precedent order has established a fair and reasonable procedure for asset release, that procedure should be applied to subsequent similar cases on a mutatis mutandis basis, ensuring consistency in judicial treatment and fairness to litigants.
On this section: Sections 273 and 274 IPC relate to sale of adulterated or misbranded goods and sale of goods knowing them to be noxious. These were the criminal charges underlying the excise violation case against the petitioner.
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State vs Abhinav
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When the prosecution fails to follow proper procedure in evidence collection, does not join independent witnesses, does not properly seal and preserve evidence, does not verify manufacturer licenses, and the scientific analysis is inconclusive regarding the percentage of the alleged prohibited substance, the accused is entitled to acquittal on the ground of insufficient evidence and benefit of doubt, even if some procedural violations are established. The burden of proof remains on the prosecution to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and procedural lapses combined with inconclusive evidence warrant acquittal.
On this section: Sale of food or drink knowing it to be noxious; Court found this section inapplicable as molasses is not food or drink
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Birendra Mahto vs The State of Bihar
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
In cases involving violations of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act where the accused has been in custody for a considerable period and raises procedural objections regarding the authority of police to institute the case, bail may be granted on reasonable conditions such as furnishing bail bonds and sureties, balancing the gravity of the offence against the accused's right to bail and the duration of custody already served.
On this section: Offences related to adulteration and sale of adulterated articles injurious to health; applied to the charges against the petitioner for possession of banned medicines
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… OKA, J. 1. Leave granted in Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 1379 of 2011. 2. The issue involved in these appeals is about the interplay between the provisions of Chapter IX of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (for short, 'the FSSA') and Sections 272 and 273 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, 'the IPC'). FACTUAL ASPECT 3. Criminal Appeal No. 472 of 2012 takes exception to the order dated 5th October 2010 passed by a Division Bench of Allahabad High Court. The appellant filed a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for …
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… OKA, J. 1. Leave granted in Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 1379 of 2011. 2. The issue involved in these appeals is about the interplay between the provisions of Chapter IX of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (for short, 'the FSSA') and Sections 272 and 273 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, 'the IPC'). FACTUAL ASPECT 3. Criminal Appeal No. 472 of 2012 takes exception to the order dated 5th October 2010 passed by a Division Bench of Allahabad High Court. The appellant filed a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for …
Questions about Section 273
What have the courts held on Section 273 of the Indian Penal Code?
Ram Nath vs The State of Uttar Pradesh (21 Feb 2024) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Establishes offence of selling food rendered noxious or unfit; requires knowledge or reasonable belief; same punishment as Section 272. Another 10 judgments on this section are set out below, 6 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2010 to 2024.
How do I find court cases under Section 273 of the Indian Penal Code?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: IPC 273, section 273 IPC, section 273 of the Indian Penal Code. People searching for it also type ipc 273 in bns and ipc 273 punishment. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 11 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Ram Nath vs The State of Uttar Pradesh (21 Feb 2024).
What should I read with Section 273 of the Indian Penal Code, and has it changed?
5 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNS 275 (Sale of noxious food or drink), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 273 of the Indian Penal Code come into force?
Section 273 of the Indian Penal Code, cited as IPC 273, came into force on 01 Jan 1862, having been enacted on 06 Oct 1860. It is no longer in force.
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Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Recovered from the consolidated text published by India Code (item 7b7d4fe6-206b-4e33-81f1-b98b018acaf6). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.